Damaged Soul

Black Sabbath
13 (2013)
Intense 85 BPM
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Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for dinner.
85
BPM

Damaged Soul by Black Sabbath is 85 BPM — Andante (walking pace).

Half-time 43 BPM · Double-time 170 BPM · released 2013

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Fan image for "Damaged Soul"

An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.

Fan-driven abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of Damaged Soul by Black Sabbath
The prompt that made this image Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Damaged Soul" by Black Sabbath. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, heavy, intense. Visual style: contemporary editorial aesthetic. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format.

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"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Damaged Soul" by Black Sabbath. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, heavy, intense. Visual style: contemporary editorial aesthetic. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."

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Song DNA

Dynamic Range7/10
Sudden Changesmoderate
Texturelayered
Predictabilitymedium
Vocal Styledynamic vocals
Notes: Heavy blues riffs and harmonica create a dense, gritty texture with moderate tempo shifts and dynamic vocal delivery that builds intensity without extreme abruptness. The production emphasizes raw, apocalyptic energy suitable for cathartic listening.

Misophonia Triggers

Mouth Soundsnone
Percussive Clicksmild
Breathing Soundsnone
Repetitive Micro-soundsnone

An eight-minute heavy blues track with harmonica accents, featuring dark lyrics about a possessed soul facing doomsday, produced by Rick Rubin on Black Sabbath's 2013 reunion album 13.

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Hear it the way it was made

The right gear changes everything.

Moods: cathartic, heavy, intense

Traditions: blues rock, heavy metal

Intense — what to expect

"Damaged Soul" is in our intense band.

At least one of our five sensory dimensions crosses the threshold that means "this can be a lot." Most commonly: dynamic vocals or layered texture, or a dynamic range of 7/10. The full breakdown is below. If you arrived here looking for a calmer alternative, our use-case verdicts section flags songs with similar mood but lower intensity.

How this song sits on each sensory axis

A dynamic range of 7/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.

Sudden changes: present. This song uses surprise as a feature. For focus or background listening, it's likely to pull your attention away; for active listening, that's often the point.

Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.

Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.

Vocal style: dynamic vocals.

Where this sits in Black Sabbath's catalog

We have 84 songs from Black Sabbath in the library. Of those, 8 are rated Safe, 27 Moderate, and 49 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 7/10 sits below the artist average of 7.1, making it the #61 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.

Other tracks from 13

We have 11 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans intense in sensory profile.

2013 context

Released in 2013. We have 408 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.5/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2010s.

Explore by mood and tradition

Moods
cathartic · 1429heavy · 676intense · 2412
Traditions
blues rock · 152heavy metal · 279

How fast is "Damaged Soul"?

85 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)

For running

Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.

For workouts

Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.

For daily life

Morning coffee, deep work, commute wind-down.

Browse more songs at 85 BPM.

When "Damaged Soul" works, and when it doesn't

Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.

✗
Focus / studying

No — too dynamic or too many surprises. Save for active listening.

✗
Running / workout

No — 85 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.

✗
Sleep / winding down

No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.

~
Driving / road trip

Maybe — the intensity / sudden changes are fine for solo highway driving but skip for city or rainy-weather driving.

✗
Cooking / dinner background

No — too active to function as background; will pull attention away from what you're doing.

✓
Emotional release / catharsis

Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.

Related reading

Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.

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Why this rating

We rate this song Intense. Our rule is deliberately conservative: any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, harsh texture, or a strained/screamed vocal is enough to trigger Intense on its own. Full scoring rubric: methodology.

This song in the Music Studio
60/100 intensity

See how “Damaged Soul” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.

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If this one is too much: sensory-overload protection

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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-14. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.

Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.

By the numbers: how this song compares

Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.

Where it sits in 19,000 songs

On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 77% of songs, calmer than the other 23%. Its intensity reading of 60/100 comes from a dynamic range of 7/10, layered texture, moderate shifts, and dynamic vocals. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.

What makes it unusual

What stands out most about this song is blazing intensity: more extreme on that axis than 77% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on near-total stillness — steady volume, no surprises, a slow and unhurried pulse — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.

Feels almost identical to

Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.

What it’s good for

Sleep0/10
Focus3/10
Workout4/10
Dinner6/10
Party / hype4/10

Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.

2013 in context

The 408 songs we’ve measured from 2013 average a dynamic range of 6.5/10. At 7/10, this track is right in line with its year.

Mixes smoothly with

Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.

The fingerprint

Intensity60
Dynamics67
Tempo25
Surprise50
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force75
Trigger load13

The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.

Frequently asked about "Damaged Soul"

Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.

What is the BPM of "Damaged Soul" by Black Sabbath?

"Damaged Soul" by Black Sabbath has a tempo of 85 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 43 BPM, and at double-time 170 BPM.

What is the sensory intensity of "Damaged Soul" by Black Sabbath?

"Damaged Soul" by Black Sabbath rates as Intense. Dynamic range 7/10, moderate sudden changes, layered texture, dynamic vocals vocal style. Any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, or harsh texture triggers the Intense rating.

How loud is "Damaged Soul" — what is its dynamic range?

"Damaged Soul" has a dynamic range of 7/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.

Does "Damaged Soul" have sudden or surprising changes?

Yes. "Damaged Soul" uses surprise as a compositional feature. Expect unsignaled transitions.

What is "Damaged Soul" best for?

In our library "Damaged Soul" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.

When was "Damaged Soul" released?

"Damaged Soul" is from 2013, on the album "13". It appears in our 2010s catalog.

What is the emotional mood of "Damaged Soul"?

We tag "Damaged Soul" as cathartic, heavy, intense. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.

What is the vocal style of "Damaged Soul"?

The vocal style is dynamic vocals.

Is "Damaged Soul" good for running?

Not really — at 85 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.

Is "Damaged Soul" good for studying?

Only partially. The song's dynamic range (7/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.

Can I use "Damaged Soul" for sleep?

Not recommended for sleep. Too intense overall.

Should I listen to "Damaged Soul"?

"Damaged Soul" is Intense in our ratings — dramatic dynamics, possible sudden changes, or strong vocal or textural energy. Best with intention rather than ambient use. If you are sensory-sensitive, the alternatives section surfaces calmer songs in the same mood family.

Songs with the same DNA

layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.

Para Lennon e McCartney
Milton Nascimento
moderate
DR 7
I Feel the Earth Move
Carole King
moderate
DR 7
Kissing Willie
Jethro Tull
moderate
DR 6
Moneytalks
AC/DC
intense
DR 8
The Black Dog
Taylor Swift
moderate
DR 7
French Exit
Dua Lipa
moderate
DR 6

Safer alternatives with a similar feel

These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.

Woman in Chains
Tears for Fears moderate
Hateful
The Clash moderate
Ohio
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young moderate
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths moderate
Bring the Boys Back Home
Pink Floyd moderate

What this song means to people

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Where to next?

You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.

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