Just a day after the music world mourned the loss of Ozzy Osbourne, the “Godfather of Heavy Metal,” Mastodon delivered a powerful live tribute, channeling the spirit of Black Sabbath during their performance at the Release Athens festival in Piraeus, Greece. The progressive sludge metal titans from Atlanta honored the late icon with a thunderous rendition of Black Sabbath’s 1972 classic, “Supernaut.”
This wasn’t the first time Mastodon had covered the legendary track; their rendition first surfaced earlier this month at the “Back To The Beginning” concert on July 5 in Birmingham, UK. That event, now with even greater significance following Ozzy’s passing on July 22, was conceived as the ultimate live celebration of Black Sabbath‘s enduring legacy, with Mastodon among the handpicked artists paying homage.
Before launching into “Supernaut” in Athens, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders addressed the enthralled crowd with heartfelt words that resonated deeply within the metal community. “We’d like to pay our respects to Black Sabbath. We’ll play a song for Mr. Ozzy Osbourne,” Sanders declared. “Without them there is no Mastodon. Without Black Sabbath, without Ozzy, there is a lot of none of this. So let’s turn sadness into a celebration for about five minutes, Mastodon in Athens, Greece. One song from Black Sabbath, ok? This is a number they called ‘Supernaut‘.”
The sentiment was echoed by Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor, who shared a touching tribute to Osbourne on his Instagram. “I love you Ozzy Osbourne thank you so much for all the music, all the mayhem, all of the endless inspiration, and for really just being yourself no matter what and teaching us that it was ok to do the same! Like many of you I became obsessed with Ozzy at a young age, there was just something about him that seemed like he was a kid onstage having the time of his life, it just looked like it was so much fun to be him.”
Dailor further reflected on Ozzy’s profound impact on him as a young musician: “The combination of his voice and the guitar playing of Randy Rhoads was something I found so evocative at an early age, I can remember being in my room listening to the song ‘Diary of a Madman‘ on repeat because of the way it made me feel, it was tapping into emotions I didn’t know I had. I used to go to sleep to the tribute album every night, Ozzy was all I ever wanted to listen to and is pretty much still true to this day.”
He concluded his tribute with immense gratitude: “I’m so incredibly grateful that we were there for Ozzy‘s final bow and that we were asked to perform. The world won’t be the same, but your music will live on forever and continue to inspire musicians of every genre to just be themselves! As I wrote on every folder I ever owned in school ‘Ozzy rulzzzzz forever!!’ Let the madness continue. RIP ????️???? our hearts go out to Sharon Osbourne and the Osbourne family.”
Mastodon’s full setlist at the Release Athens festival, culminating in their powerful Black Sabbath cover, was as follows (via Setlist.fm):
- “Tread Lightly“
- “The Motherload“
- “Pushing the Tides“
- “Crystal Skull“
- “Black Tongue“
- “Megalodon“
- “More Than I Could Chew“
- “Spectrelight“
- “Mother Puncher“
- “Steambreather“
- “Blood and Thunder“
- “Supernaut” (Black Sabbath cover)
