Number four is kind of a no-brainer, and I’m honestly surprised you didn’t see it coming. The Devil You Know is the first studio release with the lineup of Ronnie James Dio (after whom the couch-dwelling little dog Dio is named), Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice since Black Sabbath‘s 1992 album, Dehumanizer. Of course, today’s Heaven and Hell band is a different animal than the Sabbath roster that birthed the album of the same name in 1980, but The Devil You Know shows there’s still creative life in them yet. If nothing else, there’s “Eating the Cannibals.” That shit rules.

Fueled by the power of Tony Iommi‘s moustache, The Devil You Know achieves everything a Heaven and Hell studio album should; songs ranging from fast rockers in the tradition of “Neon Knights” to creepy doom numbers like “Bible Black” or the excruciating closer “Breaking into Heaven.” Yeah, we all know it’s ProTooled to death, but as far as corporate metal goes, this is still the best you’re going to get.

In the spirit of sharing, here’s “Bible Black.” Any interested parties can also find about 7,000 live versions on YouTube. This one’s right off the album.

Tags: Black Sabbath, Gods, Heaven and Hell, TFFH09

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 11:52 am and is filed under Features, Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.