
It’s hard to imagine skateboarding without Black Sabbath. Without them, whose name would AVE spray paint on some forgotten concrete in Mindfield? Whose music would lay the soundtrack for every weekender’s personal Zero Sunday mission?
Nobody. That’s who.
In case you missed it, Black Sabbath’s original lineup reunited for their final show last week, one where Ozzy Osbourne let it be known that it was his last time taking the stage.
Watching The Prince of Darkness give up his throne got us thinking about skateboarding’s long term relationship with this iconic rock band.
From icons like Donny Barley to Josh Kalis (yes, Josh Kalis) skating to their music, it’s hard to fathom, and impossible to measure, the indelible mark Black Sabbath has left on skateboarding.
Because of this, we decided to gather up a small collection of our favorite Sabbath songs from skate videos to fondly remember and bid adieu.
10. Lord of This World, Fred Gall – Inhabitants
It’s Fred Gall, it’s Sabbath. Some things just makes sense. Certain people in skating are forever linked to bands based off video parts – Ed Templeton and Fugazi/Sonic Youth, Guy Mariano and Herbie Hancock, Alien Workshop and Dinosaur Jr, and, of course Freddie and Sabbath. It’s no surprise that the human cockroach with a brand/crew called Heavy Metal has skated to Sabbath in multiple parts and is arguably the professional skateboarder most associated with the godfathers of heavy metal.
The song sticks out a bit from the rest of the Inhabitants soundtrack, but with the industrial footage and running theme of “Inhabitants of a World in Decline,” the part works perfectly with the song and Joe Castrucci delivered us yet another classic Gall/ Sabbath part to add to the Sovereign Sect’s legacy.”
9. Under the Sun, Braydon Szafranzki – Baker 3
How a part that starts off with someone yelling “weed saves lives” doesn’t use Sweet Leaf is beyond me but they picked a good one nonetheless. Bat tats for everyone!
8. Hand of Doom, Peter Hewitt – Destroy Everything Now
I have all the respect in the world for people who skate pools well. Every backyard pool I’ve ever skated has made me feel like it was my first time trying to drop in all over again. That said, I generally do not enjoy videos of pool skating. Kind of like surfing, unless the pool or wave is abnormally large, or the trick is exceptionally impressive, the difficulty of what’s being done doesn’t exactly translate to video.
This rings especially true because most pool skating is edited to metal or punk with machine gun drums, preventing the music to link to specific tricks in the mind. Hewitt’s part, set to a section of Hand of Doom, utilizes the bounce and rhythm of the blues to make Hewitt’s skating super palatable and one of the better pool-heavy parts from a predominantly transition skater.
7. N.I.B., Matt Mumford – Misled Youth
This video consists of short parts, kind of like a mixtape, and what skull-ridden company’s mixtape would be complete without some Sabbath? Also, is it a faux pax to wear the shirt of the band you skate to in your video part? Like wearing the shirt of the band you’re seeing that night? Well, let’s give Mumford the benefit of the doubt for that one.
Let’s also give Sabbath the benefit for their heavier but oddly similar riff to Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love in their song N.I.B. Most of early metal, or current metal, is a lot of reappropriated blues riffs, so if it sounds good and nobody’s suing, who really cares?
6. Fairies Wear Boots, Bryan Herman – Stay Gold
Skate videos are kind of our version of a band’s album. A handful of people come together to create and encapsulate a creative effort in something that is going to be captured and preserved from that time period. While a band generally has to go for their certain sound and genre, skate video music can draw from a larger pool to reflect the eclectic personalities of their team members, similar to a mixtape or a playlist.
Sabbath is the type of band that can work on pretty much any playlist. Going from Tom Waits to Black Sabbath in the same part shouldn’t really work, but it sure as shit does for Herman’s part in Stay Gold.
5. The Wizard, Zered Bassett and Dennis Busenitz – Skate More
Heavy metal needs more harmonica. Epic part from two all-time ATV MVPs set to the heavily blues infused hard rock fantasy song that is Black Sabbath’s The Wizard.
4. Megalomania, Donny Barley – Welcome to Hell
“BATMANNNNN!” I never really knew what they said at the beginning of this song.
I’ve loved this part since the first time I saw it in 1998, coincidentally the first time I also heard this song, and it has taken me that long – 27 years – to finally learn that Donny Barley’s iconic part, the one that birthed the Barley grind, starts out with the poignant lyrics, “Suck me!”
3. Symptom of the Universe, Henry Sanchez – Tim and Henry’s Pack of Lies
Henry Sanchez in Pack of Lies is inarguably one of the most impactful street parts of all time, which says a lot because it’s kind of edited like shit. Henry skates to silence for 44 seconds before the crunching riffs of Symptoms even start, then the song continues after his part ends for over three minutes. Socrates Leal describes the editing process in his Nine Club, but essentially the rudimentary editing equipment of the time was very limiting. He also said that they kept the song going because they “ran out of footage” and Henry was going to film more.
Given the quick turnaround time of personnel, videos, and companies at World Industries at the time, what they had is what they had so whatever other footage Henry got went elsewhere and that was it for the video. That said, Symptoms of the Universe is over 6 minutes long. Why they didn’t just move the song back to where the skating starts? I guess that’s a question for another interview.
2. Supernaut, Josh Kalis – Chicago’s Finest
Personal favorite Sabbath song. Another testament to the versatility of Sabbath’s music and its ability to span every era and style of skateboarding, skateboarder, and skate video. Also a nod to how Kalis’ skateboarding flows with a broad range of artists. From Marvin Gaye, to the Stones, to Gang Starr, to Sabbath.
1. Children of the Grave, Fred Gall – Timecode
Gotta book end the list with Uncle Freddie. The grainy footage of the train, the opening, subterranean lines, the crunching riffs mixed with the crust of the spots. The song, the skater, a perfect pairing. Not to mention bombing hills on acid. Vintage Fred. Classic Sabbath. Gotta love it.
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July 10, 2025 6:52 pm
Great selection!
For many obvious reasons I would like to add:
Element “Fine Artists Vol. 1” – Eric Rewadi, who skates to “Sweet Leaf”.
That’s pretty skateboarding-ish.
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July 11, 2025 10:53 am
Gabriel Rodriguez skates to paranoid in101 WWII report in 92
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July 11, 2025 8:09 pm
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July 11, 2025 5:08 pm
War Pigs during the credits of Antihero Cash Money Vagrants is pretty amazing, since they let the song play in its entirety, long after the video has gone to black.
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July 11, 2025 8:13 pm
The isolated sounds of the bricks in the intro of Henry’s pack of lies part was one of the greatest editing choices ever, accidental or not. Just balls to the wall hard hitting skateboarding in EMB, building up to that school yard line is amazing
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