"So if you want to know where I've been hiding all these years / Follow the tears..."
The Devil You Know is a 2009 album by the heavy metal band Heaven & Hell. In the mid-2000's, three members of Black Sabbathnote reunited with singer Ronnie James Dio for the first time since 1992 to record three new songs for the 2007 compilation Black Sabbath - The Dio Years. Shortly thereafter, the band had a hugely successful world tour, prompting them to write a brand new album together. Though all four members had been in Sabbath at one time or another, they decided to name themselves Heaven & Hell note to differentiate themselves from the still active Ozzy Osbourne incarnation of Sabbath.It is a Traditional Heavy Metal album in the vein of Black Sabbath's early-80's albums with Dio, albeit with noticeably modern production and songwriting flourishes. While there are a few faster paced bangers here and there, most of the album is slow, heavy and menacing. Lyrically, the album touches on religion, personal struggles, and of course dark fantasy.
The album was released on April 28, 2009 to massive acclaim from the metal community and a #8 spot on the Billboard 200. It won many awards from the metal press, including "Best Album" in the 2010 edition of Metal Hammer's prestigious Golden God Awards.
Tracklist:
- "Atom And Evil" (5:15)
- "Fear" (4:48)
- "Bible Black" (6:29)
- "Double The Pain" (5:25)
- "Rock And Roll Angel" (6:02)
- "The Turn Of The Screw" (5:02)
- "Eating The Cannibals" (3:37)
- "Follow The Tears" (6:12)
- "Neverwhere" (4:35)
- "Breaking Into Heaven" (6:53)
Principal Members:
- Geezer Butler - Bass
- Tony Iommi - Guitar
- Ronnie James Dio - Lead vocals
- Vinny Appice - Drums
Tropes:
- Epic Rocking: Four of the album's ten songsnote are more than six minutes long.
- Heavy Meta: "Rock And Roll Angel"
- Heavy Mithril: At least 75% of the album, with the remaining songs being about personal struggles. "Bible Black", for example, tells the story of a man who's bored with his life, finds a cursed book in his library and begins reading it, only for it to be cursed with an evil power that eventually makes him go berserk.
- I Am a Humanitarian: Subverted with "Eating The Cannibals." The song's title is actually a metaphor for people killing each other in war. It has nothing to do with cannibalism itself.
- In Name Only: Inverted. This is basically a Black Sabbath album in all but name.
- Nuke 'em: "Atom and Evil" seems to be about the dangers of nuclear weapons.
- Traditional Heavy Metal: The album is this with shades of Doom Metal throughout.
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: The cover art shows Satan holding a cross with nails in it. A few songs, such as "Fear", also play with this trope.
