Review Summary: As an unpredicted way for this band and singer Ronnie James Dio to bow out, it may not be the best possible release, but it is a more than dignified note to end on.
If you are a fan of rock music, you’ve probably heard of Black Sabbath. Even if you’re not into metal, the name might ring a bell. After all, the Birmingham four-piece
invented a whole genre with their first few albums. And even after they lost the services of charismatic lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, the group knew how to keep themselves relevant, becoming part of a whole other genre with replacement vocalist Ronnie James Dio. And while subsequent decades would be less than fortunate for the quartet, what they did in the 70’s and early 80’s was enough to guarantee the worship of millions of metal fans worldwide.
Cut to 2006. After years of failed reunion attempts with Ozzy Osbourne, the core members of Sabbath – guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler – decided to just move on without the Prince of Darkness, instead calling upon his replacement, Ronnie James Dio. And since original drummer Bill Ward was not up for the idea, they also called upon
his replacement, Vinny Appice. This new group was christened Heaven and Hell, so as not to offend the sensibilities of more loyal Sabbath fans.
Of course, after a period of getting reacquainted, the next logical step was to release an album. Hence
The Devil You Know, which for all intents and purposes was the first Black Sabbath release in years. Sure, there had been a live release before it, but it was just a gathering of former hits and a few new songs. Therefore, this was the album where the group would get to prove their actual worth. And fortunately, it shows that there’s still some steam left in the old engine.
Opener
Atom and Evil already sets the tone, sounding, if possible, even heavier than Ozzy-era Sabbath. However, it doesn’t take long for some traditional metal influences to shine through, mostly on Dio’s vocals. The rest of the album will adroitly balance these two strands, making for a pleasantly familiar, yet refreshing sound. Additionally, the opener also introduces another trademark of the album: excellent, fleshed-out lyrics where there is little space for repetition, even when they follow a more traditional structure, like on
Follow The Tears.
The final contribution of this song is to introduce us to the star of this show: Geezer Butler. While the other three musicians are predictably and expectedly excellent, the bassist, who seldom shone in Black Sabbath, is the real surprise here. His bass lines on songs like
Atom and Evil, Bible Black, Double The Pain or
Turn Of The Screw are absolutely jaw-dropping, often constituting the most interesting part of the instrumentation.
Fortunately,
The Devil You Know isn’t just a substanceless tech-fest. Experienced old hands as these musicians are, they evidently give the listener something to chew on, concocting an album of overall very high quality. The absolute standout is
Bible Black, a song which would have made
Mob Rules-era Sabbath blush.
Follow The Tears comes in as a close second, while solid backup is provided by numbers like
Atom And Evil, the pacey
Eating The Cannibals,
Double The Pain or
Neverwhere. And while there are the occasional rather weak numbers –
Rock’n’Roll Angel, Fear – and a couple of mor nondescript ones –
Breaking Into Heaven and the intermittently brilliant
Turn Of The Screw – the overall balance is distinctly above-average. But then again, one would hope little else from Sabbath.
However, there always has to be a downside, and in this case, it’s repetition. Most of the songs feature very similar riffs, which leads to the feeling that one is just listening to the same song with different lyrics. Coupled with the aforementioned weaker songs, this contributes to bring the album’s overall rating down a notch or two, while still keeping it commendable to the lovers of good music.
So in conclusion, if you like Black Sabbath or its sister bands, the doom and classic metal genres, or are just looking for something mildly original, you’d do worse than to check this out. As an unpredicted way for this band and singer Ronnie James Dio to bow out, it may not be the best possible release, but it is a more than dignified note to end on.
Recommended Tracks
Atom and Evil
Bible Black
Follow The Tears
