Heaven & Hell: The Devil You Know" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 22 April 2018. Other than the sinister riffs, another reason this record has such a dark vibe is the fact that it took Dio’s fantastic lyric writing and Sabbath’s general dark imagery to conjure images of demons, fallen angels, and sin, which work together to give the album quite a hellish mood and atmosphere. But despite the quite fantastical imagery, the album still has a very personal edge to it. It’s given to you from such a very real point of view, going in-depth about the emotions, that you can have some sort of relation to it. It also lets the songs that are more purely about emotion and don’t quite have the fantasy element blend right in as well.

I like how the album has a song about fear itself, describing it as a mark that was left on us all despite humanity taking control of fire and light with no more need of fearing the dark. Dutchcharts.nl – Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018. When dealing with these songs on an individual basis, comparisons to “Dehumanizer” could be made, along with a lot of other Dio and Sabbath albums that came out after said release, and even a few from before it. There isn’t really one era of their project that defines this album, but more of an even mix of them all, compressed into a modern yet not overdone production. Songs such as the creepily slow and dark “Atom And Evil” and the dissonant yet catchy “Fear” could be compared to material heard on “Cross Purposes”, “Strange Highways” and “Magica” and still not quite describe the character of the sound in its entirety. Likewise, faster songs such as “Eating The Cannibals” and “Neverwhere” carry a dueling “Dehumanizer” sense of darkness and a “Mob Rules” meets “Holy Diver” feeling of riff familiarity and majesty. Some other songs such as “Double The Pain” and “Follow The Tears” get so heavy on the bass and low end riffs that they cross over into sludge territory. There’s essentially a little something for every fan of every respective era of these musicians’ careers to grab onto. Munro, Tyler (27 April 2009). "Heaven and Hell – The Devil You Know". Sputnikmusic . Retrieved 26 April 2012.I think it was a combination of two thoughts - the plot of the song itself and the thought of people who get lost in the addiction to hard drugs that alter their realities, thus getting themselves buried deeper and deeper underground... Dio's vocals on this album are just some of the best and most aggressive sounding vocals he's ever put on an album. His vocals match the intensity that the album art for the album gives off as well as the album title itself. For being a couple years shy of seventy years old, Dio has still got it. In this album, Dio blends the perfect mixture of melody and aggression together to create some of the best vocals he's ever done on an album, if not the best. Dio's lyrical ability is also top notch and on this album he created some of the best lyrics he's ever written for any other album. The lyrics on this album are just great. Heaven & Hell Official North American Tour Dates Confirmed". KNAC. 4 May 2009 . Retrieved 10 May 2009. Coordinator [Project Assistance] – Dutch Cramblitt, Jason Elzy, Kris Ahrend, Liz Erman, Lyn Fey, Mason Williams (2), Matthew Szerencse, Nikki Fair, Rich Mahan, Scott Webber, Sheryl Farber, Steven Gorman*, Vania Garcia LOS ANGELES — After finishing several heralded world tours as Heaven & Hell last summer, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice were tighter than ever before, both musically and personally. Agreeing that it would be a shame to stop making music together at tour’s end, the quartet began writing, first in England at Iommi’s home studio and later in Los Angeles at Dio’s studio. “The band had gotten too good to just walk away,” Dio says. “We wanted to show people that we were still capable of giving them new music that measured up to what we’d done in the past.”

a b Cohen, Jonathan (10 February 2009). "Heaven & Hell Feeling Devilish on New Album". Billboard . Retrieved 11 February 2009.generally very strong and memorable. I don't ask for more and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

The production sound reminds me of "Dehumanizer" more than the other two Dio-fronted Sabbath LPs ("Heaven And Hell", "Mob Rules"). Several of the songs are slow and creepy but there's also uptempo pounders like "Breaking Into Heaven" and “Eating The Cannibals”. While the presence of Dio always completely ferments anything he sings on this album feels like all three are equally present at all times. Iommi is as always a brilliant creator of riffs and Geezer Butler's menacing bass sets the tone. especially on for the crunchy “Double The Pain”. It's one of the best basslines I've heard since Queen's "Under Pressure" In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Ronnie James Dio described the material on the HEAVEN AND HELL album as "a real cross-section of everything we've done, from 'Heaven and Hell' through 'Mob Rules' and 'Dehumanizer'. I think there's a lot of 'Dehumanizer' in it, but a lot of other things, too, a real good blend of what this band has represented." As for the other members, Geezer can be heard well in the mix, and he has plenty of sweet bass fills and great rhythm lines. I wonder how much of a hand he had in coming up with riffs for this album, since I know he was more involved with this writing process than he said he would be if it was Ozzy-fronted. I do know he came up with the album title, at least, as well as the 25:41 on the cover (a very pointed reference to Matthew 25:41 from The New Testament of The Holy Bible). And as for Vinny, his drumming is fine. It sets a good rhythm, is in time, and I actually like his fills (I don't understand why he gets ragged on so much). I'm not a big fan of overly complicated drumming, I just like it to fit the music and hold everything together. me at all. "Breaking Into Heaven" has some eye rolling lyrics (at least for me) but it isn't too bad These lyrics were typed in myself straight out of the lyrics that appear in the CD booklet. They are accurate except for typos. If you find an error from my transcription let me know, but don’t tell me “the lyrics should be something else”– these are the official lyrics from the liner notes!Geezer's time to shine on this album came on the song 'Double The Pain' where he starts the song off with a nice little bass solo and his bass is very audible throughout the song including a break in the middle of the song for another small bass solo. Geezer is on the ball on this album as he usually is. Geezer!

Oficjalna lista sprzedaży:: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 April 2018. This album is everything you could possibly want from a SABBATH album of the DIO era. The songs are catchy traditional doom metal and the production is modernly recorded but the fuzzed out metal sound makes these feel nice and dirty as well. DIO's vocals are as good as ever and the songs are very well written showing that the band really had some music makin' mojo left in them after years of mediocre albums apart from each other. The result of this reunion is more than just a nostalgic trip into the past, but this album succeeds in sounding very good in a modern sense as well being not just a carbon copy of their previous releases together. When all the euphoria over the fact that the CD has actually happened eventually dies down, the cold light of day will reveal that it is not a classic, but that is not to say there is anything disappointing about it. The Dio-fronted Sabbath always set the bar very high, and the fact they have not quite managed to match the amazing quality of their previous works 15 years after their last collaboration is nothing to be ashamed of. Seeking this one out is mandatory. You seriously wouldn’t know that this was the bands first album in, hell, how many years? They really are as tight as they were in the hey-day. Each member steps up to the plate and delivers with all their balls. I think Iommi gets MVP for this album though, because the riffs here are definitely on par with his old classics. My personal favourite is Double The Pain, but they’re all fair game. Being a big Dio fan, I was glad to hear that his angelic vocal chords are still in mint condition. The drums and bass are pretty standard, but shine here and there.As was the case in 1992, the triumphant return of this outfit has resulted in a lesson that can school any and all adherents of metal music. It is definitely one of the best, if not the best album to come out this year. It isn’t a matter of this band being capable of doing no wrong, but simply that every time their in the studio, nothing ever comes out that way. They reprove their worth every time, starting nearly from scratch at each instance, and have once again put out something that will be talked about and listened to years after the novelty wears off. This is the devil that all of us know and love, forever unchanging, and forever a master at his craft. I’m going to echo the sentiment I have heard around here: not enough tempo variation. This was a problem for about the first two-to-three listens, but after I got to know the songs it’s not that big of a deal. Still, a little more variation could have boosted this in my eyes. Austriancharts.at – Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018. Heaven & Hell's Geezer Butler Discusses 'The Devil You Know' ". blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012 . Retrieved 21 April 2009. The songs were written during late spring, early Summer 2008. None were recorded until after the 2008 Metal Masters tour was over.