The Devil You Know (Heaven and Hell album)

Conception

In 2006 the Ronnie James Dio-era Black Sabbath line-up recorded three new tracks, "The Devil Cried", "Shadow of the Wind", and "Ear in the Wall" for an upcoming greatest hits package entitled Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. Guitarist Tony Iommi said that the tracks were created because he felt there was nothing worthwhile releasing in the vaults from the Dio-era studio recordings and so these new songs were written and recorded. The song "The Devil Cried" was released as a promotional single for the release. Initially Dio commented that after the recording of those songs, he expected to leave the band and return to Dio and that another "Sabbath album" was "the last thing on my mind". Iommi commented that Heaven & Hell agreed on an album whilst the band was in Japan on their 2007 tour. The band started work on the album before and after the Metal Masters Tour in Dio and Iommi's houses respectively. Each member submitted CDs of material for the project. Iommi has described the work so far as being "really good, pretty powerful".

Title and art

The album artwork is adapted from a painting by Per Øyvind Haagensen entitled Satan. The artwork features the numbers 25 and 41. Geezer Butler stated in an interview that the numbers refer to the Bible verse Matthew 25:41, which deals with the Last Judgment where "those who sit at the left side of God are cast down into Hell". He also has explained that the name of the album is a reference to the name of the band, as fans know them as Black Sabbath. When finalising the cover art, the band narrowed it down to their two favourites but had a difficult time making a final decision. The second of those two favourites prominently features the traditional Black Sabbath devil logo. That alternative cover is available exclusively at Wal-Mart within the United States.

Critical reception

The Devil You Know has received generally positive reviews. The album currently holds a score of 63/100 at the aggregate review site, Metacritic, indicating mixed or positive reviews. Allmusic described the album as being like Black Sabbath's Paranoid in matching its moment. However, it goes on to note that Heaven & Hell expresses a "very different side of their musical personalities" than Black Sabbath, and that the differing band name is suitable. Metal Hammer described the album as "one of the heavy releases of the year". Martin Popoff rated the album as better than Dehumanizer, but not as good as Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules. He described Dio's vocals being delivered with "thespian enunciation" and "passion".

Touring

Heaven & Hell embarked on a second international tour (after their 2007 tour) in support of The Devil You Know. The band's first scheduled date was in Bogota on 5 May 2009. They were supported by progressive rock acts Coheed and Cambria and The Mars Volta on North America for a select number of shows in August 2009.

Track listing

All tracks written by Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, except where noted.

Personnel