HEAVEN AND HELL
"The Devil You Know" (Rhino; 2009)
Reviewed by Snidermann
Heaven and Hell (or Black Sabbath, or whatever you want to call them) is Ronnie James Dio on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, Vinny Appice on drums and Geezer Butler on bass. I don't care what Sharon Osbourne thinks, this shit is Black Sabbath.
"The Devil You Know" sounds just the way it should: dark and twisted, slow, heavy and full of sinister images. This music brought me right back to the "Heaven and Hell" release of 1980, "The Mob Rules" of 1981 and "Dehumanizer" of 1992 (with a little of Dio's classic solo album, "Holy Diver," to top things off). These guys were put on this earth to make this kind of music.
Any Black Sabbath fan should run right out and buy this new recording; it's that good. Not only is it one of the best CDs fo the year, it may go down in the annals of metal history (along with the aforementioned releases) as one of the great metal albums of all time.
"The Devil You Know" showcases the immense talents of its legendary musicians subtly and without making the music difficult to follow.
Ozzy who?
For more information, check out http://www.heavenandhelllive.com.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2009 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised:
28 Oct 2024 12:36:41 -0500.
