"Children of the Grave" is a song by English heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

, from their 1971 album '' Master of Reality''. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "

War Pigs "War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album '' Paranoid'' (1970). Overview The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", ...

" and "Electric Funeral" from '' Paranoid''. The song has been featured on a number of greatest hits and live albums by Black Sabbath, as well as by the band's lead vocalist

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

during his solo career.

Track listing

# "Children of the Grave" (Edit) – 3:47 # "Solitude" - 3:45

Legacy

"Children of the Grave" is widely considered one of Black Sabbath's greatest songs. In 2020, '' Kerrang'' ranked the song number six on their list of the 20 greatest Black Sabbath songs, and in 2021, ''

Louder Sound ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

'' ranked the song number five on their list of the 40 greatest Black Sabbath songs.

Cover versions

White Zombie version

The band White Zombie covered "Children of the Grave" (with slightly altered lyrics) for the Black Sabbath tribute album ''

Nativity in Black ''Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath'' are two Black Sabbath tribute albums, released in 1994 and 2000 respectively. The albums feature various heavy metal groups performing cover versions of Black Sabbath songs in tribute to the band. ...

''. It was later released as a

promo single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

in 1994. The cover did not chart, but did receive some radio airplay on

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

stations in America.

Track listing

Personnel

;White Zombie *

Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...

– vocals *

Jay Yuenger Jay Noel Yuenger (born December 26, 1966), also known by the stage name "J.", is a rock guitarist best known for his work with Grammy-nominated heavy metal band White Zombie. Music career As a teenager, Yuenger's interests quickly progressed ...

– guitar *

Sean Yseult Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

– bass *Phil Buerstatte – drums ;Production *Bryan Carlstrom – production * White Zombie – production *Bob Chiappardi – executive producer *

Terry Date Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ang ...

– mixing

Nepal version

The Argentine thrash metal band

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

recorded a cover version of the song for their third studio album, '' Manifiesto'' (1997).

Havok version

American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band Havok included a cover of the song on their third studio album, '' Unnatural Selection'' (2013).

Master version

American death metal band

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

covered the song for their 1990 debut album Master. Whilst keeping the clean finger picking intro of Embryo and the opening build up, the rest of the cover is more similar to the style of Venom.

Jazz Sabbath version

English jazz trio

Jazz Sabbath Jazz Sabbath is a fictional English jazz trio said to be from the late sixties. The band was created by Adam Wakeman, touring keyboard and guitar player for Black Sabbath (2004–2017) and Ozzy Osbourne band member (2004–present). Jazz Sabbath ...

released an instrumental jazz rendition of this song on their 2020 self-titled debut album.

Racer X version

American heavy metal band Racer X covered this song and released it as a bonus track in the European/Japanese edition of the album ''Technical Difficulties'' (1999).

References

{{authority control Black Sabbath songs 1971 songs Anti-war songs White Zombie (band) songs 1994 singles Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne Songs written by Tony Iommi Songs written by Geezer Butler Songs written by Bill Ward (musician) Columbia Records singles Vertigo Records singles