The Devil You Know is the debut album of heavy metal act Heaven & Hell. Debut is probably a little misleading though as this group of musicians has actually been around for years. The group consists of Black Sabbath mainstays Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi as well as two members who joined Sabbath in 1979, Vinnie Appice, and former frontman for Rainbow, Ronnie James Dio. This lineup released the albums Heaven & Hell in 1980 and Mob Rules in 1981 before Dio and Appice left the group to form Dio, the band. In 1992 they returned to release Dehumanizer before once again splitting to follow their own projects. In its most recent incarnation the band has renamed itself after their first collaboration and released the album The Devil You Know in April of 2009.Dio has always tried to differentiate his time with the band as being separate from that of Ozzy’s, and as such has always wanted to play under a name other than Black Sabbath but never could because the record company wanted to run with the known brand. Now he’s got his wish, but despite this there is no more effort put into disassociating themselves with their pasts. After all, Dio himself is considered by many to be the founder of power metal not to mention the “devils horns” that have become so associated with metal and Black Sabbath are also considered the earliest and most influential heavy metal band. So it makes sense to keep those ties for marketing purposes. This is made clear by the album cover. The title itself is a reference to the audience knowing of the bands origins. The cover art also includes the devil figure featured on most Black Sabbath albums.
The album itself is at once typical of the group but also different to their previous releases. When Dio originally joined Black Sabbath he brought with him lyrics about wizards and other mystical figures. Here, there is none of the mythological elements that so often enter Dio’s work. This album is a lot darker and heavier and once again the album cover gives a good indication of its nature. The art features a monster in the foreground with a crucifix in the background and has the numbers 21 and 45 to signify (according to Geezer Butler) the bible verse Matthew 21:45 which tells of the angels on the left side of God falling from grace.
The titles of the songs also reflect this darker feel. With song titles like, Fear, Double the Pain and Follow the Tears showing a more depressing side. There’s also the usual subversion of religion with titles like Atom & Evil, Bible Black, Rock & Roll Angel and Breaking Into Heaven. Iommi is considered to have created the detuned doom sounding guitar riffs and they are on ample display here. The powerful vocals of Dio which haven’t faded despite the onset of age seem to meld much better with the music in this album than any other. The message isn’t as dark as it seems though. The lyrics may subvert traditional views of organised religion but it doesn’t promote Satanism, it is merely pointing out the evil in the world. As Dio states in the documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, even the bands name is a reference to how there is good and bad in all of us. The band does not shy away from the bad in the world but rather confronts it and whilst doing so manages to produce one of the best metal releases of recent years.
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