GOOD NEWS FOR SABBATH FANS
Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 2:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
We’re just a few weeks away from the release of the 21st century’s first Sabbath album, The Devil You Know, which, kind of miraculously, will actually feature a line-up people give two shits about. Seriously, if you’d told me ten years ago there’d be a new Sabbath album in 2009, I would have shrugged and wondered who Iommi recruited this go-round. But, no, it’s Dio-Sabbath, it’s really coming out, and it’s going to be kick-ass.
So. 2 things:
- You can hear fifteen second samples from the entire album here. It sounds so good I just a small aneurysm.
- Ronnie James Dio is hopping on the book club bandwagon and, according to Classic Rock Magazine (”The Magazine for Old People”), writing his autobiography. According to Dio, the book will “not be centred [sic] around myself so much as me telling my life story through the stories of those around me… You have to have a focal point, and I guess that had to be me.” Normally I’d make fun of the diminutive Dio for being falsely modest, but true Napoleon complexes don’t allow for false modesty so he scores points there, plus did I mention an awesome new Sabbath album is coming out? In any case, I imagine Dio has enough good stories to tell that this book could potentially be a whopper.
Black Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell’s The Devil You Know drops April 28.
-AR
Going to highshool in the mid 90’s if you would have told me there would be this much excitement in 2009 for a Dio fronted Sabbath album I would have said you were nuts. Of course the world was supposed to end 12/31/99 so that probably had something to do with it.
Everyone was still so Ozzy crazy. Granted, he got non-stop radio play, which is what we had to rely on.
This album sounds like it will be killer. Iommi is on top of his game right now. Same for the rest of the band of course.
you got me excited about a new ozzy led sabbath event. damn you.
This album is going to be so good that it hurts to think about. My wife and I almost named our child Lil’ Ronnie James! ROCK!!!
not to mention the album cover is one of the coolest looking things ever
Why the fuck would anyone ever be excited about a new Ozzy-led Sabbath album is beyond me. Did you even HEAR “Psycho Man”? Jesus Fuck… Those 4 haven’t made a good album together since Sabotage. No fucking thanks… Heaven & Hell, on the other hand, is something to be excited about.
Honestly, I think we’ve only got a small taste of what’s to come, and an incorrect one at that. As we’ve all learned, Bible Black is, in a phrase, “fucking incredible”. I assume most of you simply skipped over that song in the preview list here as we’ve all heard it/ripped it in uber quality to our mp3 players/etc. I decided to see what they pulled from it.. and it was the worst possible point to give you an idea of what the song will be like. You assume it’s a ballad from that clip.
Everyone, I think we may have been given a purposely misleading taste of the album, and if Bible Black was any indication, this Sabbath album may almost make Slayer look weak in comparison.
Not that I have a problem with this, Dio can rip apart my eardrums to his heart’s desire if he wishes, but fuck, there’s a good chance that this could be one of those few albums in a lifetime that you hear about, you hype about, you cum about before it’s even out – and then when it finally is, rather than disappointing or simply satisfying you, it totally blows your ass out of the water harder than watching Dimebag get shot.
Fuck yes, Iommi, Dio, make us cry.
I’m like one of eleven people that thought Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! are on the level. Still, this album is a small win for metal heads everywhere, regardless of how many of them choose to acknowledge it.
Dany, really? I mean, really? You’re serious?
I don’t really care, Dio has ten miles to run to get my approval, singing at the pitch of a chick/man with his balls in a vice does not a metal legend make, maybe I can fudge up my various sliders and push his voice to the background, then, it would be a truly divine slice of metal ecstasy.
I’ve heard the Heaven & Hell album; you can read my review at All Music Guide. Short version: It rules.
This new album is pretty good. Almost as good as Dehumanizer. It’s definitely worthy of the Sabbath name.
Look at that, an AllMusic reviewer visits the site, only music review site worth a fucking shit on this planet we call Earth.
They just earned an increasingly positive view from this metalhead right here.