5/5 Sabbath Metal Forever
  by Master of Reality (San Antonio)
Ok, so the band calls itself Heaven and Hell, but lets face, they can call themselves whatever they want, they will forever be Black Sabbath. Nothing changes from this band whose members in the early 80's blasted many metal fans with ear splattering riffs, jams and precussions. Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice, the revival of Sabbath after Ozzy and Drummer Bill Ward depated. The songs are exactly what you come to expect from Black Sabbath, heavy overtones, tempo changes, and dazzling guitar play. The song "Bible Black" will one day be a classic and really takes the true Sabbath fan back to the beginning. This CD is a cant miss and if you get a chance, catch them on tour, they may have aged a little, but can still put on a great and LOUD show.

4/5 The Band Which Can Not Be Named (but we all know who it is)
  by W Butler (Massachusetts)
I changed the name from "Heaven and Hell" to "Black Sabbath" on my itunes so it plays with my other sabbath albums - coming appropriately right after Dehumanizer. This is a sick Black Sabbath album and it makes me wish the band had spent more time in the studio over the last decade and a half instead of farting around with Ozzy. The album has a very similar sound to Dehumanizer, with the melodic sound of the Dio albums mixed with a heavier guitar sound and production more reminiscent of Iommi's solo album (around 2002 I believe). However, the nu-metal leanings of that album are not found on The Devil You Know. It is one of Sabbath's heaviest albums but sometimes a little bit plodding. Every song has a distinctive riff and some inspired singing by Dio, although some are lacking a proper "hook". However, there are way more good songs on this album than on Ozzy's last 3 albums! It is clearly a group effort, and the product is a sweet collection of classic sabbath sludge riffs and Dio screaming about crazy stuff. The songs sound raw and stripped down but loud and heavy like guitar drums and bass are supposed to sound. It does not need to be dressed up with fancy production or weird sounds. I hope there will be more albums in this vein in the future - working with Dio pulled Sabbath out of the Ozzy slump of the late 70s and the revolving door lineup problems of the late 80s-early 90s. So maybe they will get back on track now. Tony Iommi deserves to have control of the Black Sabbath name but he needs other strong musicians to make good albums like this one. I hope that Geezer and Dio will stick around and that there will be more Heaven and Hell albums, or even better they will be able to release their next one as Black Sabbath.

5/5 Prophets of Doom and Redemption
  by E. Willi
The Old Testament prophets preached a message of doom (judgement) against the Israelites for sinning and falling away from God's commandments, but the prophets offered hope of redemption if the Israelites turned from evil. Likewise, HEAVEN AND HELL dig deep into a prophetic space of doom, gloom, and judgement, but also create high notes (cracks of light) giving hope to souls chained in hell.

4/5 Sabbath Changes Their Name But Not Their Monster Sound
  by Mr. Sinister (El Cajon, CA USA)
The fact that Sabbath did some of it's best work with Ronnie james Dio at the helm lends some credibility to this effort. Iommi and Dio just seem to click here and you can feel that the bad blood of the past is long since dead. They create a mood together and it is dark, sludgy, and driven. Keeping the Heaven & Hell moniker from their reunion tour a few years back, Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice come out with a record of all new material, and, no big surprise, it rocks deeply and darkly. If we are to be picky, we will say that Dio's sings very slow on some songs, as if he's trying to emphasize every single word, and that is slightly annoying. We could say that there are parts where Iommi trains us in repetition to the point of driving us away. We could say those things and still respect what The Devil You Know represents, which is a classic Sabbath crew getting back together to rock the world. They're getting old (RJD is 67, Iommi is 61, Geezer is 60, Vinny is 50)but these are the Godfathers Of Metal, so they know what their doing and we trust them wholeheartedly. They do not disappoint, nor do they try to feed us some fake, song-doctored metal crap. The wall of sound feel from the opening riffs of The Devil You Know is a pleasant return to the days of apocalyptic Sabbath. Let's check out the tracks:

Atom And Evil: Great opening track. Dio's lyrics are clever and memorable. The gloom and doom of Iommi & Butler is mind blowing. You cannot believe that these dude are old enough to be our parents or our grandparents. These guys know how to rock all the way. Very polished effort. The production is heavy but very clear.

Fear: Great riff, very ponderous beat. Dio is rocking on all cylinders with his vocals. Lyrics are tight. This is exactly why we buy the album when these guys get back together. It rocks!

Bible Black: Moody acoustic intro. You can tell right away that all egos have been put aside finally. This is a band having a good time and rocking out. Excellent song. Don't go on, put it back, you're reading from the Bible Black....

Double The Pain: Geezer intro, pounding, groovy. A stab in the back is worth waiting for tonight... RJD is definitely not writing about rainbows and dragons anymore and we miss that from time to time, but this bitter, edgy stuff is great, too.

Rock And Roll Angel: Ronnie sings way too slow here to emphasize the words and that kinda shows us the imprefections in his aging voice, but aside from that, this is another great tune. The Sabs clicked on this effort and it shows on every song. The solo is hearty and straight-forward. This isn't shredding, this is playing from the gut. The acoustic blurbs at the end of this song are awesome. Iommi sounds revitalized.

The Turn Of The Screw: This song sounds familiar and that is probably just the signature Sabbath sound recurring. This song drags a little because of Dio's vocals. Musically it shreds. Very heavy, very Sabbath. You'll be rich, you'll be golden, just sign on the dotted line...

Eating The Cannibals: Damn, this song just shoots out of the gate shredding. Rocker! Sabbath revitalized. The lyrics are nonsense but this is one of the bright spots on a very consistent album. Excellent!

Follow The Tears: I love the opening riff, it's Metallica-esque, like something off Justice. The drums roll in and it is something off of Justice. Damn! Powerful stuff. The rolling, drowning wall of sound might drain your soul after a while, but this is a great song to pop in and pit the headphones on and lose yourself in the darkness. Iommi's playing (hell, all the playing here) is inspired. Something has been rekindled and it could possible be great for a few more years to come. We take our Sabbath in meassured increments or where we can get it.

Neverwhere: This deep into the album, you would expect the filler to start flowing. Not the case here at all. This song is one of the better songs on the album. Dio's vocals belt out like machine gun fire. Driven. Wow. Very impressive.

Breaking Into Heaven: This sounds like reheated Dehumanizer when you hear the doom flow forth. This song drags. Ominous but dragging. Not going to be anyone's favorite song. This may be filler. Maybe. Very Sabbath. Very heavy. Almost too heavy, like it's crushing the life out of you as you listen to it.


Overall, I wasn't expecting much out of this reunion. I saw them live with Megadeth opening and I can tell you without remorse that the was one of the greatest shows I have ever seen in my life. Dio hit every single note and to see the Sabs up there doing the great Heaven & Hell/Mob Rules songs again. Excellent. Like I said, I wasn't expecting much from this. The few songs they did for The Dio Years were blah & depressing, but I was pleasantly surprised by this entire album. There are a few dragging spots and Dio's voice (am I actually saying this?) gets ponderous here and there but Iommi plays like he just got a tranfusion of demonic blood. Geezer and Vinny are solid as alway. RJD is amazing for the fact that he's 67 years old! Amazing! This is an iconic bunch of guys that still know how to put out the metal. Nothing felt cheap or contrived here. Honest. Dark. Clever. Consistent. Metal.

Dig it!

5/5 about time
  by zaplightning (cleveland town)
i have been hopeing for an album like this for years.......and yeah, no doubt, ronnie, tony, geezer and vinny got together again.....every song is deep, rockin with that fuzzy riff, the lyrics are cool too.....i like it just as much as the album from 1980......four very talented musicians, i hope they tour featuring this album, i'll buy a ticket if they stop in my city......