Ozzy Osbourne Stuns With First Solo Song In Nine Years

"Today I woke up and I hate myself," laments the Prince of Darkness on his new song "Under The Graveyard," which dropped today. It's the first single off of his new album Ordinary Man which is expected to drop in early 2020. The track marks Ozzy Osbourne's first solo effort since 2010's Scream.

In the meantime, Ozzy was busy reuniting with the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath for their chart topping 2013 album 13. In 2016 the band embarked on a farewell tour "The End" which ran through February 2017. Their final performance took place in their home city of Birmingham, England. The following years proved to be physically challenging for the musician.

After taking a serious fall, bronchitis and pneumonia, and contracting a deadly staph infection on his right hand, Ozzy wasn't sure if he was going to make it. "Sharon was saying, 'You've got to get out of bed.' I would say, 'What's the point, I'm dying.' There were many times I thought, 'I'm done.' I was scared. I thought that was it," he shared in an interview with The Sun in September.

In early October, he tweeted a video regarding his decision to postpone his European tour dates due to a slower than anticipated recovery from surgery. And although he shared he "has more nuts and bolts in my neck now than my car," he made sure everyone knew that this minor hiccup didn't mean he was done. Today, he doubled down on that sentiment by releasing the forthcoming album's first single.

The structure of "Under The Graveyard" functions like a predator (Ozzy) hunting its prey (us, the listeners). But instead of ending us, Ozzy hurls us into hard rock ecstasy. The song eases you in with its earnest guitar and by the 40 second mark, grips you with a pre-chorus so intoxicating you don't mind being dragged along for the ride. Just when you get comfortable with the new approach, Ozzy sneaks up on you again and the song morphs into an unapologetic thrasher worthy of head-banging that will leave your neck a bit stiff the next morning. The song is truly a treat for metalheads of all ages. Its production clean and melody sticky enough to signal that the song is coming from the voice of a classic rocker, while its main guitar riff is sludgy enough to attract fans of newer sludge, doom, and stoner metal bands.

"This is quite possibly the most important album I have done in a very long time, probably since No More Tears," says Ozzy. Ordinary Man will be Ozzy's first solo album in almost ten years and "Under The Graveyard" is a promising indication that he will not disappoint.


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