The Blackest of Sabbaths, 2010-08-25I chose the title of this review for a reason. The Devil You Know, by Heaven & Hell (aka Black Sabbath), is by far the darkest and heaviest album in this band's storied canon. If I refer to them as Sabbath in this review, I trust you'll forgive me. After all, this is the Mob Rules/Live Evil/Dehumanizer lineup of Black Sabbath, and a rose by any other name....
With Dio's recent passing I dug into his back catalogue, and this album, once again. The last album that these four guys did together was 1992's masterpiece Dehumanizer, notwithstanding the 3 new songs on the compilation The Dio Years. The last actual Black Sabbath studio album previous to this was 1995's Tony Martin-helmed Forbidden, a dreadful rushed piece of garbage that almost buried Sabbath forever.
So, it is quite refreshing that The Devil You Know is so heavy, and so good. If you are familiar with the slow, dirgey sludge that were the 3 new songs, that is a good reference point to the sound on this album. Very sludgey, mostly slow, guitar-heavy and intense. There are some faster ones ("Double The Pain", "Neverwhere" etc) but for the most part this is 10 tons of pure heavy Black Sabbath. Songs like "After All" from Dehumanizer are the blueprint.
I was especially drawn to the riffs. Iommi's riff on "Bible Black" is crushing. "Fear" has some exotic noodling that I found surprising and refreshing. Vinnie's drums are all cannons and no crowd-strafing maching guns, which I do miss. I also wish Geezer's bass was more slinky and audible, but combined with Iommi's guitar it just creates this wall of metal. All this is held together by Dio's strong, unique, wonderful voice. It is deeper than it was back on Dehumanizer, over 15 years previous, but if you were familiar with more recent Dio solo offerings such as Master of the Moon, then you know what the man has been up to.
The Devil You Know is not an instant pleasure. Hooks are scarce, as the album bludgeons you with sound. However, the familiarity that these four musicans create with their combined sounds are the hook. One of the most missed sounds in metal today was that of Black Sabbath. With Ozzy at the helm, new music was scarce (only two new songs on Reunion, although a third never-released new song called "Scary Dreams" was absolutely mindblowing). What the future holds is anyone's guess, but I am glad that for now, Sabbath capped it off with one hell (pun intended) of an album. This album stands up to the glory days of Dio-era Sabbath without copying it, and that is a hard thing to do.
Bonus tracks: You can find unique live versions of both "I" and "Neon Knights" on some versions of the album. If you're not a hardcore collector, then you can stick to the double live album Live From Radio City Music Hall. If you are a Sabbath completist, then be aware the two live bonus tracks are not from that album, but are unique (and great) live versions unavailable anywhere else.
Rest in peace Ronnie. Sleep well, knowing that you did something rare. You created cap stone worthy of your entire body of work.
4 stars.
Reviewed By A3IQQKB8XPPNHWWith Dio's recent passing I dug into his back catalogue, and this album, once again. The last album that these four guys did together was 1992's masterpiece Dehumanizer, notwithstanding the 3 new songs on the compilation The Dio Years. The last actual Black Sabbath studio album previous to this was 1995's Tony Martin-helmed Forbidden, a dreadful rushed piece of garbage that almost buried Sabbath forever.
So, it is quite refreshing that The Devil You Know is so heavy, and so good. If you are familiar with the slow, dirgey sludge that were the 3 new songs, that is a good reference point to the sound on this album. Very sludgey, mostly slow, guitar-heavy and intense. There are some faster ones ("Double The Pain", "Neverwhere" etc) but for the most part this is 10 tons of pure heavy Black Sabbath. Songs like "After All" from Dehumanizer are the blueprint.
I was especially drawn to the riffs. Iommi's riff on "Bible Black" is crushing. "Fear" has some exotic noodling that I found surprising and refreshing. Vinnie's drums are all cannons and no crowd-strafing maching guns, which I do miss. I also wish Geezer's bass was more slinky and audible, but combined with Iommi's guitar it just creates this wall of metal. All this is held together by Dio's strong, unique, wonderful voice. It is deeper than it was back on Dehumanizer, over 15 years previous, but if you were familiar with more recent Dio solo offerings such as Master of the Moon, then you know what the man has been up to.
The Devil You Know is not an instant pleasure. Hooks are scarce, as the album bludgeons you with sound. However, the familiarity that these four musicans create with their combined sounds are the hook. One of the most missed sounds in metal today was that of Black Sabbath. With Ozzy at the helm, new music was scarce (only two new songs on Reunion, although a third never-released new song called "Scary Dreams" was absolutely mindblowing). What the future holds is anyone's guess, but I am glad that for now, Sabbath capped it off with one hell (pun intended) of an album. This album stands up to the glory days of Dio-era Sabbath without copying it, and that is a hard thing to do.
Bonus tracks: You can find unique live versions of both "I" and "Neon Knights" on some versions of the album. If you're not a hardcore collector, then you can stick to the double live album Live From Radio City Music Hall. If you are a Sabbath completist, then be aware the two live bonus tracks are not from that album, but are unique (and great) live versions unavailable anywhere else.
Rest in peace Ronnie. Sleep well, knowing that you did something rare. You created cap stone worthy of your entire body of work.
4 stars.
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