Hands of Doom: The Apocalyptic Imagination of Black Sabbath

Short Theological Engagements with Popular Music

by Jack Holloway

“The world today is such a wicked place,” Black Sabbath declared in 1969, when they recorded their debut album, set against a backdrop of war, assassinations, social unrest, and disillusionment. Cries for justice from the Civil Rights Movement, and for peace and love from the culture of “flower power,” had been met with violent backlash from the ruling class. It was on this stage that Black Sabbath entered—the heaviest rock band the world had yet known. This band was shaped by a working class upbringing in Birmingham, England, where actual metal defined the small town existence of factories, bombed-out buildings, and little else. With their music, Sabbath captured the dread and the burgeoning pessimism that was haunting the minds of young people in the sixties and seventies.

Today, we are in a similar age of climate disaster, extreme inequality, police brutality, mass incarceration, and now, pandemic. Black Sabbath speaks to our time in ways few other bands can. They deploy apocalyptic imagery to capture the destruction of the planet by despotic superpowers, and they pronounce a prophetic indictment on agents of injustice. In this book, theologian and cultural critic Jack Holloway explores Black Sabbath’s music and lyrics, and what they had to say to their historical context. From this analysis, Holloway outlines a Black Sabbath theology which carries significant import for modern life, reminding us of our deep responsibility to transform a broken world.

Genres: Music

150 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[Zach Minuto · Rating 5 out of 5]

There isn’t a lot of good theology that is written so accessibly—Hands of Doom kind of feels like the exception that proves the rule. But Holloway uses his debut book to go directly for the jugular of the hipocrisy of the Satanic Panic.

Holloway uses Black Sabbath as a key to understanding the Christian imagination, and likewise, the Christian tradition as a key to understanding the world of Black Sabbath. But more than merely showing similarities and points of resonance, Holloway directs those resonances back out onto the realities of Sabbath’s milieu, and of our own social and political realities. A band whose first album came out over fifty years ago can often feel like old news, when contextualized over the span of the Christian tradition, their message feels immediate and urgent once again.

In other words,
🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully insightful look into Sabbath's relationship to a slew of theological ideas. Fantastic!

[Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a fan of Black Sabbath or metal music. But I am a fan of Jack and his theology. Since I lived through this period, it was interesting to go back and read the lyrics, which are powerful. Some of the songs I remembered. The chapters I found the most resonating, profound, were the disillusioned working class, the working poor - Birmingham, black history/theology, War Pigs, mental "illness". I am glad Jack has found this voice, connecting two things he loves deeply - his message is thus clear and for today.

[Cristian Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting approach to Black Sabbath’s music and lyricism from a theological perspective. There are sections that really provide an inspiring reading, such as the analysis of the prophetic or apocalyptic (under)tones of BS music. The book falls short, however, in many sections where the author tries to advance his own “woke” positions over the music. Discussions such as heavy metal bands committing cultural appropriation by not acknowledging African Americans blues players, is quite a stretch in itself, and definitely imposed on the analyses of BS music. That Sabbath’s was created and enjoyed primarily by “straight white men” looms as a constant moralization of cultural facts. (That’s my 3 for an otherwise 4-to-5 star book)
The author does little musicological analyses, since he focuses on the lyrics rather than the whole musical language but he still does a thought-provoking job by connecting dots between Christian messaging and Sabbath’s covertly religious views.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chuckled at some of the reaches on lyric dissection but overall a well written, well referenced and interesting book!