Tony Iommi: Heaven & Hell

Apr 5 2009 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

BLACK Sabbath guitar guru Tony Iommi is back – with an album boasting some very familiar friends.

Heaven & Hell, as you’ll doubtless know, boasts the 1980 Sabbath line-up credited with revitalising the franchise.

Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice have just completed a marathon world tour.

And on April 27 they will release The Devil You Know, their first studio album in more 17 years.

We’ve got our hands on an early sneak preview copy of the album – and it’s a Brummie barnstormer.

Written at Iommi’s home in the Midlands, fine-tuned in LA and recorded in Wales, it’s unashamed retro rock.

“It took us less than three weeks to finish the album,” he says. “And most of the songs only needed a couple of takes.

“It was good to play them live in the studio because that keeps you on edge.”

At first listen it’s a bid to recapture the huge doom-laden rock riffs of the earlier Sabbath days. The descending guitar figure of Atom And Evil sets the bruising tone before Dio’s melodramatic vocal takes Bible Black along the border of the Iron Maiden mainstream, and Breaking Into Heaven builds classic rock claustrophobia.

Double The Pain opens with a looping bassline that’s taken up by Iommi’s crunchy guitar, while steroid-fuelled Fear boasts a sinewy solo. Follow The Tears is radio-friendly with a melodic middle section.

The Turn Of The Screw is an atmospheric anthem that will work well live, and the chugging riff of Rock And Roll Angel is just the stuff that inspired a young Metallica to pick up their guitars and play.

Best of the bunch are Eating The Cannibals and Neverwhere – two express train songs with Paranoid pedigree.

Love Sabbath or loathe ‘em – and I’ve done both over the years – this is a metal album that takes no prisoners. PC