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Black Sabbath. What can anyone write something about the fathers of heavy metal that hasn't been written before? What can anyone say that hasn't been said? Despite the close flirt between Ozzy and Iommi, during the last decade, the long-awaited studio album by the original line-up didn't come. So, Iommi and Buttler tired of waiting for Ozzy's approval to work together again decided to team up again with their old pal, Ronnie James Dio, and revive the successful "Mob Rules" line-up bringing Vinny Appice back,too. After their "Heaven and Hell" tour they discovered the flame was still there and that they could continue with a new studio work.
Without fanfares the new album by Black Sab…ehhh, excuse me… Heaven and Hell arrived and its title, "The Devil You Know" and it's indeed that! I know that after the reunion of a legendary band there are people that are waiting for miracles and people in the opposite corner waiting to crucify the members! Both of them will be disappointed I think! From the first notes of "Atom And Evil" you'll understand that this is Black Sabbath. Iommi's presence is haunting the whole album with his heavy slow riffs and guitar lines. "The Devil You Know" can be described as a doomy slow / mid-tempo album with only two compositions following a faster pace ( "Eating the Cannibals", "Neverwhere"). Dio's performance is brilliant for one more time! What's with this guy? I mean he's sixty years old and still remains one of the best vocalists in the planet! His amazing voice brings the whole result one level up. Geezer still gives bass guitar lessons and Vinny is excellent behind the drums! As it concerns the song-writing, they still have it and offer us many great thrills such as the epic-dark "Bible Black" or the up-tempo "Eating the Cannibals"! The doom/ melodic opener "Atom and Evil" is also one of the best songs of the album. There are also many other inspired moments such as the addictive guitar riff of "Fear", the second part of "Rock ‘N' Roll Angel" or the solo part of "The Turn of the Screw" that will keep everyone satisfied! On the other hand, the album seems to be a little monotonous at times. It's true that every track of the album has interesting parts but many compositions are very typical with uninspired choruses ("Double the Pain", "Neverwhere"). The production is almost flawless giving points to the final result.
What the final clue is? "The Devil You Know" is a very good album by people who wrote their music history during the passage of time. If you just compare it with "Heaven and Hell" or "Mob Rules" you'll lose the whole picture. Those albums come once in a lifetime. It's true that only one or two songs from the new album could fit in those two classics but this doesn't lower the new album's value. I'll try to be as much objective I can be with one of my favorite bands…If "Heaven and Hell" is a 10/ 10 then "The Devil You Know" takes a...
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