Heaven & Hell
The Devil You Know

Let's be honest, in that vast and colorful genre known as metal, it is practically impossible to find a band that has not been influenced by Tony Iommi's Black Sabbath.

The band's Dio era (very brief and mostly tied to the historical masterpiece Heaven and Hell) surely has little to do with the legendary Sabbath, those mystical and dark of the Ozzy Osbourne period, also because the entry of the former Rainbow into the group brought a breath of innovation and avant-garde that quite altered the sound of the Sabbath, not surprisingly Heaven and Hell (1980) results as an ideal snapshot of both the starting and ending point of the world heavy metal scene of the period, which in the '80s (for better or worse) will see the birth of phenomena such as the NWOBHM.
 
After this historical parenthesis, let's come to the present: in 2009, a reunion that should not be a reunion, at least starting from the name, takes us back to the Black Sabbath formation from thirty years ago, making it legitimate for the listener to expect anything.

And surprises certainly do not lack

The specter of Heaven & Hell paradoxically is far, far away: by a quirk of fate, this "debut" album for Heaven & Hell turns out to be decidedly closer to the typical Black Sabbath sound than their very last albums, primarily the 3 from the Dio era.

1. Atom and Evil: opening song that immediately gives us a general idea of what we have in front of us: This is not a Dio + Black Sabbath album, name changes aside, here are the truly archaic Sabbaths, those dark and gloomy of the Ozzy period, but with the vocal contribution of a phenomenon like Ronnie James Dio, who however is not a guest star, but an integral part of the band.

2. Fear: the same applies as for the previous one, if not perhaps that in this Fear one hears more, in my opinion, the "Dio-like" sound; the riffs (and the nice solo) characteristic of Iommi do not disappoint and always remain in the foreground.

3. Bible Black: This is most probably the most complex, evocative, and in summary BEAUTIFUL track of the album, a slow start with a very dark melancholic ballad that then reveals itself in all its evil rage, where the Butler/Iommi duo pulls out something epically damned, while the angry and powerful Dio proves once again to be worthy of the surname he bears (let's be clear: in tastes, Ronnie is one of those singers you either hate or love, but I don't think there can be much debate about his vocal technique). Inspired riffs, a beautiful solo...a true title track of the album and its worthy representative.

4. Double the Pain: it is perhaps the most "old" of the cd, a song that really knows a lot about the '70s, nothing wrong if not that for my tastes it perhaps represents the only "out of place" note in the whole album, which on average stays old school but not too much.

5. Rock And Roll Angel: okay, the tones are always Sabbath-like, but this song is all about Ronnie. If it had been a bit less "heavy" I wouldn't have been surprised to hear it in the recent Master of the Moon, Dio's fans will most likely appreciate it a lot, a beautiful song but perhaps not very related to the rest of the album; the solo around the middle is very '80s and delightful, with a really heavy conclusion, the acoustic ending of the song is also very evocative.

6. The Turn Of The Screw: this is true rock from the Black Sabbath that once were, but at the same time another great vocal performance by Dio, perhaps a song not very incisive overall, but endowed with very beautiful riffs and very pleasant to listen to without thinking too much.

7. Eating the Cannibals: the fastest and most lively track of the album, probably my favorite of the cd, is this heavy rocker and frantic song, sustained by essential riffs repeated ad nauseam while Dio yells about eating the cannibals. Very catchy, old style, great solo and rhythm, rhythm, rhythm!... without abandoning the darkness that dwells in all the tracks or almost, let's say a bit like the second part of the famous Killing Yourself to Live.

8. Follow the Tears: this is an ideal funeral hymn in pure Sabbath style, in the intro one almost expects Ozzy to break through at any moment with his grating voice (perhaps in modern style, as in Gets me Through), instead the song darkens and a solemn and imperious Dio arrives; perhaps a pity for the refrain a bit "weak" for the type of song, which still remains one of the ideal modern conjugations of the Sabbath sound.

9. Neverwhere: here we are again in the '70s! dark and furious rock'n'roll, but let's say a new song that tastes "old" in the good sense, where perhaps Double the Pain slightly disappointed. Needless to say, there's a lot of Dio here too.

10. Breaking Into Heaven: do we abruptly return to the pure Sabbath? At first it seems so, but vocally Dio perhaps brings out his most "personal" performance of this The Devil You Know, with this Breaking Into Heaven the two different sounds ideally unite, a great way to leave us, respecting the various identities of the musicians, a bit like when Dio reinterpreted the old classics of the Ozzy era without giving up his personal and much-loved style.

In summary: 

No, this is not a masterpiece, at least I do not feel like defining it such, but it is perhaps the best album of 2009 and a powerful, dark, up to date but at the same time "the devil we know" album: there are no traces of "easy" songs to approach the old guard or headless and tailless experiments to renew a sound that is ever-current and indeed pleasantly rediscovered.

I recommend it to all the old Black Sabbath fans, and also to the supporters of the good Ronnie (who might still be a bit disappointed if they expected a continuation of the '80s line).