With the February 2017 concert captured on The End, legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath called it quits. Though I viewed this “retirement” with skepticism back then, the fact that we’re now nearly eight years later and we’ve not seen anything from the band strongly implies Sabbath really did wrap it up in 2017.

The End gives fans a document of Black Sabbath circa 2017. Shot in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England on February 4, the concert emphasizes their early career.

From the band’s self-titled 1970 debut, we find “Black Sabbath”, “NIB” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep”, while 1970’s Paranoid delivers “Fairies Wear Boots”, “Iron Man”, “War Pigs”, “Hand of Doom”, “Rat Salad” and the title song.

From 1971’s Master of Reality, we locate “Sweet Leaf”, “After Forever”, “Into the Void” and “Children of the Grave”. "Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes", “Snow Blind” and “Supernaut” arrive from 1972’s Vol. 4, while 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabhath boasts the title song.

1975’s Sabotage brings us “Megalomania”, and 1976’s Technical Ecstasy boasts “Dirty Women”. As far as I can tell, “Bassically” never appeared on a studio album – it seems to exist essentially as an instrumental lead-in to “NIB”.

I’ll freely admit that Black Sabbath have never been my cup of tea. I wasn’t a metalhead as a kid, and I’ve not changed that attitude a whole lot over the decades – except that I’ve come to appreciate the band better. 40 years ago, I had no use for an act like Sabbath, but now I can understand them and judge their output on its own merits.

Did The End make me a Sabbath fan? No, but I liked the music more than I would’ve in my youth.

While most people go for softer stuff as they age, apparently I’m turning more toward harder rock. As such, I kinda dig the sludgy metal edge we hear from Sabbath.

I can’t compare this performance to shows the band played in earlier years, but Sabbath sounds fine. The musicians remain tight, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne shows a voice that’s held up well after all the decades and all the substance abuse.

As for the work of director Dick Carruthers, he makes the presentation “busier” than I’d like, though not to an offensive degree. On the negative side, the concert suffers from a lot of quick-cutting as well as a few intentionally blurry images and too many shots of the head-bangers in the crowd.

Still, I’ve seen worse - much worse, in fact. I wish Carruthers had reined in some of these editing and cinematographic excesses, but I can live with them, as they don’t go too over the top.

All of this leaves The End as a fairly compelling document of Black Sabbath’s supposed last concert. Fans should feel pleased with it.

Note that we got only three-fourths of the original Sabbath here. While founding members vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler returned, drummer Tony Ward remained on the sidelines.

Apparently Ward and Osbourne had a falling out and didn’t patch that up before the final tour. My cynical side predicted they’d kiss and make up for a Real and Tour Original Four Farewell, but given the fact that’s not occurred almost eight years after The End, I suspect I foretold incorrectly!

Black Sabbath: The End appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a strong presentation.

Sharpness excelled. Outside of some intentionally blurry elements, the show offered solid definition, as the shots looked crisp and distinctive.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering appeared, and edge enhancement failed to appear. As for print defects, I saw no issues in that regard.

Like most concert movies, most of the colors stemmed from lighting, as the musicians wore dark clothes. With an emphasis on purple and red, the hues looked lively and vivid, and HDR gave the tones extra impact.

Blacks were tight and deep, while shadows were positive. A couple of crowd shots seemed a smidgen too dark, but I didn’t mind those, as they were inevitable and not a big deal.

HDR brought greater emphasis to contrast. Everything about the image satisfied.

Though not quite as good, I still liked the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1. As we often find for live presentations, much of the audio remained mostly anchored in the forward channels.

In the front, we encountered solid stereo imaging. Vocals stayed nicely centered while the instrumentation spread cleanly across the forward speakers. Those components showed logical placement and worked well.

Surround usage mainly restricted itself to crowd noise and general reinforcement of the music, though instrumentation – guitar and drums – occasionally bolstered the back speakers. The soundfield reproduced the concert information in a satisfying way without becoming too busy.

All in all, audio quality was positive. Vocals sounded natural and distinct, without edginess or other issues. Guitars showed appropriate crunch and bite, while drums had a nice pop and kick to them.

Highs appeared clear and bright, while bass response came across as pretty deep and rich. This became a pleasing soundtrack.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the original Blu-ray from 2017? Both came with identical audio.

However, the 4K’s visuals offered improved delineation and HDR gave blacks and colors a boost as well. While the BD looked great, the 4K took the image to a higher level.

In terms of extras, the 4K UHD includes The Angelic Sessions. Recorded at Angelic Studios not long after the final concert, Black Sabbath plays Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard”, Master of Reality’s “Sweet Leaf”, Vol. 4’s “Tomorrow’s Dream” and “Changes”, and a 1970 B-side called “Wicked World”.

These tracks fill a total of 26 minutes, six seconds and offer a bare bones visual accompaniment, as we just see the band in the studio. It’s not particularly dynamic, but it offers a decent complement to the main concert.

Finally, the set provides a booklet. It mixes band quotes, credits, photos and a 2017 essay from Rolling Stone writer Kory Grow. It adds value to the package.

Note that the 4K UHD drops a “bonus CD” included with the Blu-ray. However, because that only involved the five “Angelic Sessions” songs, I don’t regard its absence as an actual loss.

After nearly 50 years, legendary metal band Black Sabbath called it quits, and The End documented their final concert. Despite some iffy directorial choices, the show mostly comes across well. The 4K UHD offers excellent visuals and very good audio but skimps on bonus materials. Sabbath fans seem likely to enjoy the band’s swan song.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of BLACK SABBATH: THE END