Search - Heaven & Hell :: Devil You Know (Shm-CD)

Deep, Dark, and Heavy!!!!

karen kopacz | BUFFALO, NY, US | 07/22/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As usual our veteran rock Gods are still great and heavy as ever on this album.

I'd recommend it to fans new and old. Ronnie's vocals are as always powerful,

the lyrics are full of meaning, and the band is a driving force that really

brings it home. Buy it today FANS!!!"

You're Listening to The Bible Black

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 09/26/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The unexpected swansong of Ronnie James Dio was 2009's best heavy metal album, a relatively inspired reunion of the late model Black Sabbath. Even if they took the name Heaven and Hell because of legal entanglements over the Sabbath moniker, this is kind of molten lava sludge burning that the quartet excelled on for Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules.



Iommi in particular seems recharged here, his riffing is better than anything since the underrated "Headless Cross." Dio is his usual leather-lunged self and, in a more unusual twist, is not dwelling on his usual dungeons and dragons lyrical philosophy. "Rock and Roll Angel" comes close to that realm, but the bulk of the songs are back to vintage Sabbath looks at the misery of the world, as oblique as the songs may be. This is at an absolute peak on "Bible Black," where an old man finds the ultimate book of evil, but can't escape its demonic lure. Naturally, the band rips into this song like raw steak.



In fact, only twice does "The Devil You Know" falter, and that's on the ridiculous "Eating The Cannibals" and the record company diatribe "The Turn of The Screw." There's plenty of morbid to make up for it, like the creepy organ that opens "Follow The Tears" or the migraine marches on of "Breaking Into Heaven." It's an honorable way to pulverize, and if Dio had to go out on any album, "The Devil You Know" is as good an exit as he could have been associated with."

Ronnie James Dio's last scream

Surferofromantica | Singapore | 07/14/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First song has a great title - "Atom and Evil." Is it about how nuclear weapons are bad? Can't be sure, said the spider to the fly. It's great to hear the band making original music again (Heaven & Hell, by the way, is Black Sabbath as they were with Ronnie James Dio on albums such as "Heaven and Hell", "The Mob Rules" and "Dehumanizer", except they're not allowed to be called like that due to a truce with Ozzy Osbourne over who is allowed to use the name "Black Sabbath"), and you have to wonder if this is what people felt when they got a new Black Sabbath album in the old day (I'm old enough to remember when "Mob Rules" was a new album, with hot new singles, fresh on the radio). Too bad, though, that the release has an album almost as ugly as "Born Again" (also by Black Sabbath, but with Ian Gillan singing).



"Fear" is a raunchy rocker that soars nicely, while "Bible Black" starts off softly, with great Dio vocals grabbing the spotlight, turning quickly into a great rocker (this was also the album's hit single). The song is long, the solo withering. Amazing to think that he had been in show business for fifty years at that point, but had just more than a year left to live (the album was released April 28, 2009, and Dio died on May 16, 2010, aged 67 years old.



"Double The Pain" is a somewhat corny ole track, while "Rock `n' Roll Angel" is a bit more anthemic. "Turn of the Screw" is noble and gigantic, while also seeming quite poppy. "Eating the Cannibals" is probably the best thing on the album, the band gets real tight and has a lot of fun with great, tight riffs and huge noise. "Follow the Tears" is one of those spooky songs, and is more Ozzy than Black Sabbath, but "Neverwhere" is more Dio-era Black Sabbath, with a real bite of venom, with one of those old Tony Iommi solos (to the extent that you wonder if he bothered to put one on any of the other songs, or if he had a stand-in). Excellent! "Breaking into Heaven" the last song on the last full-length feature album Ronnie James Dio released in his life (until I'm proven wrong) is ""Breaking into Heaven." Besides being somewhat prophetic, the song is good fun and very slow (finally) and plodding through several riffs and other deas. Great; while it's not a great closer to a great album, it is nice to hear that the music is still there, and to have a Dio soundtrack for the next ten years. Thank you RJD!"