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RATINGS: A = must own B = buy it C= average
D = yawn F = puke |
Rating: B
Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice
make up the band once known as Black Sabbath. Originally
appearing on the Heaven & Hell tour and the
Mob Rules album, the band of musicians reformed under the
moniker 'Heaven and Hell' as Sharon Osbourne would not
relinquish the name 'Black Sabbath' to the band. While that may
have seemed a set back upon first hearing the news, not calling
this band 'Black Sabbath' has turned out to be a godsend.
Heaven and Hell is not a refurbished Sabbath. The power and
energy is much deeper than it would be if this was just a simple
reformation of a bunch of rock gods. This is a band.
The new album is much better than the last time this crew got
together for the album Dehumanizer. It is better than
most moments on Mob Rules, but not as good as the best moments
on that album. It is not as good as the album that shares their
namesake. Heaven and Hell the Sabbath album, comes along
only once in a lifetime (or three or four times in a lifetime if
you are Ronnie James Dio). That said, this muther rocks. Below
is a track-by-track
listing.
Atom and Evil
This is dripping with the same venom the serpent spewed upon the
man who ended up eating the apple. Ronnie James Dio is the best
lyrist in Metal. The music to the tune is a good marriage
between DIO and Sabbath. This one will be a fan favorite, thus
why the disc starts with it.
Fear
This one belongs to Iommi at the beginning. Lots of riffs
followed by the detuned, two-fingered power chord barrage that
he is famous for inventing. The solo misses the mark a bit as
Tony goes for a slower, melodic tone leaving one sitting waiting
for him to cut loose and rip it to shreds.
Bible Black
The first single for the album, "Bible Black" elicits the best
of the Dio/Sabbath collaboration that could be hoped for. You
have Ronnie singing with an eerie passion. The lyrics are dark
and sinister and the guitar filled with doom and gloom.
Creations like "Bible Black" are why there is a demand for this
band. When they are good, they are better than most. When they
are great, as they are on this song, they are downright scary.
Double The Pain
This one would be very at home on any of last several DIO
releases. Ronnie sounds great, yet somehow, for some unspoken
and hard to define reason, the song is just not as good as the
others. All of the elements are there but it just does not
quite reach the same heights as some of the other songs on the
album. Not bad, mind you, but not too memorable. On a positive
note, the song, after the chorus, does feature some solid
riffage between Geezerand Tony. There is a good guitar solo and
Geezer even gets to bring it down to his lower register and then
rebuild the song back to the verse.
Rock and Roll Angel
The opening of "Rock N Roll Angel" sees the band reaching into
territory not often seen for this band. The songs starts out
melodic and rock poppy. Have no fear though; it takes less than
a half a minute for the rhythm to kick into a metal frenzy.
About halfway through the song, the mood changes drastically.
Gone is the foreboding rhythm, replaced by Iommi performing a
slow jam. The song slowly builds tension and then releases as
the guitarmaestro proves his wares and shows all the young bucks
that you can be a sixty-something metal guitar hero after all.
The song bashes along until falling off a cliff and fading away
with a lamenting acoustic guitar.
The Turn of the Screw
Powerful baby! "He was born to be angry," explains a lot about
this song. Dio recounts a horror tale of a madman who literally
has a screw loose. Eventually, the screw gets turned a bit too
far. The music is eclectic. Riffs mixed with power chords, all
seemingly having nothing to do with the vocal melody. This one
may bother some, as the music is not aligned together for the
verses. During the chorus, and the solo, the rhythm section
picks it up and keeps the song bashing along.
Eating the Cannibals
Okay, a corny, cliche Metal song, I mean a song about
eating people who eat people? Sounds a bit Spinal Tap. But one
listen to the driving and thumping guitars and drums and Iommi's
'speed kills' solo and you have a hell of a rocker on your
hands. This one should be played both loud and often.
Follow the Tears
"Follow" opens with what could be described as a Heavy Metal
funeral procession that turns into a classic Sabbath guitar
dirge. "Come lie on a bed of nails and slumber/Rise up but the
hands all pull you down" laments Dio. The lyrics are hopeless
and sad as Ronnie sings, "So if you want to know where I have
been hiding all these years, follow the tears." Dark, sinister,
evil and mystifying, "Follow the Tears is an excellent offering
of a musical horror movie. Later in the song, Ronnie offers
comfort to the misfit by assuring him the humans are unkind,
will poison him and lie to him bringing him to a deeper
despair than he already finds himself in. This
one is kind of a modern day "Don't Talk to Strangers" only with
more doom and gloom.
Neverwhere
Lyrically, this song is terrifying. "Neverwhere" being a place
of evil foreboding. Ronnie owns this song as the rest of the
guys are just backing him up with scary music. Dio is a master
storyteller and this song sees him warning of evil ones "waiting
for the witching hour."
Breaking Into Heaven
What is the best way to end a brooding, doomy and, at times,
horrifying Heavy Metal CD? Why with an epic take of angels who
tried to take God's riches and were locked out of heaven,
gathering together to make a surprise attack and break into
heaven. The guitar drones along, as the bass thumps and the
drums pound, rhythmically in the distance. The music swoons,
builds and dives as the fallen angels begin their attack. Tony
Iommi steals the show with his guitar solo on this song. One
could say that he literally saved the best for last.
Heaven and Hell have a giant release on their hands. Sonically,
the CD is out of this hemisphere. The bass and guitar are dark
and while, Appice, at times, struggles to get the same loudness
out of his drums, they are not so low that they don't have an
impact. It is very difficult to balance such a sonic attack of
sound and have the instruments not clash if given the same
levels of amplification. In this case, Geezer wins and the low
end seems more powerful than the drums. This leaves plenty of
room for Iommi to dominate, something he actually could have
done more of on the album. The star of the show ends up being
Ronnie James Dio. The little man with the giant voice performs
at the top of his game. His lyrics are true poetry and his
skill level as a lyricist is improving with age. Ronnie James
Dio shines brightly, from opening to end.
Heaven and Hell may take a few listens for all the nuances to
become recognized. This is one of those musical offerings that
has it's own life. The more you get to know it, the more it will
reveal itself to you.
Jeb Wright
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