Sabbath were heavy metal, in the late 1970s, 1980s yes, but as has been stated in the past things change, nowadays sabbath would (in my opinion) be regarded as heavy rock when compared to heavy metal which developed from it
take manowar, formed in the late 70s and were probaly influenced in some part by sabbath, joey di maio was working as sabbaths road crew when they decided to form manowar! but they took those influences along with others to develop the heavy metal sound of today, while sabbath may have been called heavy metal back then, it was because there was nothing to compare it too! an to them it was heavy! now they would be considered heavy rock.
all you have to do is listen to what manowar/maiden/saxon were releasing at the same time as sabbath to notice a distinct difference!
all these things you have been quoting from magazines and websites may be saying they are heavy metal, but think about it if you were a metal magazine, and there was a band as succesful as sabbath out there, wouldnt you want to bend the truth just a little bit so you could include them! it happens.. ive even seen metal hammer refer to bullet for my valentine (who for the record i despise) as thrash! now if someone found that on the web they could quote that easily enough and not think anything of it!
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