Artist: Hand of Doom
Album: A Beginner’s Guide to the World’s Best Black Sabbath Tribute Band
Release Date: 2002
Label: Idaho/Retrophonic
Inspired by her visceral rock sensibilities amid MTV-spawned Osbourne’s-mania, former Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist, Melissa Auf Der Mauer formed Hand of Doom, a just-for-fun Black Sabbath tribute band, with friends Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age) and Pedro Yanowitz (ex-Wallflowers). Hand of Doom played three sold-out LA club gigs and captured the live magic of those shows for A Beginner’s Guide to the World’s Best Black Sabbath Tribute Band — your eight-song souvenir of these three enchanted evenings. This disc includes awesome, note-for-note renditions of “Paranoid,” “Fairies Wear Boots” and “War Pigs” — where Ozzy really went for the lyrical stretch, rhyming “Masses” with “Masses.” Auf Der Mauer’s vocals are especially beguiling on a mesmerizing version of “Changes,” which provides space to clear the sonic palette. Hand of Doom perfectly captures Sabbath’s dark majesty and this recording just sounds amazing. A fitting way to observe the Sabbath.
This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.
