When Ronnie James Dio caught up in 2006 with Iommi, Appice and Geezer Butler, I doubt whetehr they knew what was going to come of it, but wow, this is probably the best Sabbath...er...non-Sabbath, since the Ozzy years, and I mean that. Effortless, casual, bone-breakingly heavy, this has the magic ingredients Sabbath have been looking for since the infrequent cauldron's of doom they've put out over the years. 'Dehumanizer' was a good album, but this has those black riffs back, and I'm so glad that Ronnie, considering his passing in 2010, managed to get his vocals onto a classic album. His legacy is magic, whether you like his style or not. One thing Dio does is create atmospheres of stark forest, and great chasms of fire and fantasy. The slow, ponderous menace of 'Atom And Evil', to the magical 'Bible Black' and truly monstrous 'Double The Pian' brings back the hazy days of monolithic riffs, lazily arrogant as Iommi strums another sky shattering string, backed with Butler's booming bass and Appice's ground-chiselling drums. It's frightening in its almost playfulness, suggesting that Sabbath was not simply about the melancholy of Ozzy like many people have thought.
The militant plod of 'Follow The Tears' and strut of 'Rock And Roll Angel' feature all the hallmarks of classic Sabbath. Something special was going on here as the foursome knitted together and created this barbaric, metallic groundhog of a war machine for one last time. Now I can only hope that Ozzy puts aside his soap opera life and attempts one last quest for thunder with his original Sabbath band mates, because what Heaven And Hell have created, is at once modern, and a nod to the past, all the while casting a looming shadow over Ozzy's solo career, since 1993 and making him look rather silly. 'The Devil You Know' is the sound of modern doom. Superb cover art also.
8.5/10
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