Slightly above average gothic doom metal - A review of Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know

Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know marked the third reunion between influential singer Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinnie Appice with Black Sabbath masterminds Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi. This promising new chapter in their careers was cut short by Ronnie James Dio's illness and death only four years into the creation of this new band. This shows that time is precious and shouldn't be spent arguing but creating your own legacy. This line-up could have achieved so much more throughout the years but one should be grateful for the four records these four musicians were able to put together in three decades after all.

Perhaps those tragic circumstances have clouded the evaluation of this slightly overrated album. My first impressions back in the days were actually rather negative. The songwriting is repetitive and even bland at times. The riffs on several songs sound repetitive to a point that they become exchangeable. The rhythm section is solid at best but often fails to stand out and leave a significant mark. Even the great vocal patterns often sound the same. Optimistic reviewers might call this consistency while it's actually a lack of creativity. It almost feels as if the songwriting had been rushed. It might have benefitted from leaving it alone, rediscovering and finetuning it for better results.

Two tracks manage however to stand out and have also grown as time went by. First single ''Bible Black'' is a haunting track that cannot only be described as doom metal but checks all the cases for gothic metal as well. The song is slow, melancholy and emotional as it's carried by dramatic vocals, gloomy acoustic guitars in the outstanding overture and thunderous riffs in the main part. The song is best enjoyed on a rainy autumn night in a cold room lit with black patchouli candles.

Another highlight right at the heart of the album is the playful ''Rock and Roll Angel'' that convinces with several songwriting ideas that walk off the beaten path. This is the only song on the record that features some heartfelt melodies that don't inspire the usual doom and gloom. The smooth middle section with blues solos laid over appeasing guitar melodies has just the right length to unfold all its magic. The vocals are rather catchy for once and might even inspire to sing along. The acoustic guitar closure gives the diversified song a timeless campfire atmosphere. This song might sound slightly puzzling at first contact but the different parts slowly start fitting together as the track starts to grow.

The album features a few more decent songs that can't however reach the quality of the aforementioned highlights. Overall, the record suffers from numerous fillers that fail to grow and leave a deeper impression. In the end, what had been marketed as one of the biggest reunions of the decade in the metal scene wasn't as outstanding in retrospective as its dramatic circumstances might have indicated. Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know is a solid to good doom metal album with a few gothic stylistics that includes two outstanding tracks that have stood the test of time. Aside of its ambitious start and heartbreaking ending, the most remarkable thing about this band and its only studio album is the wonderful cover artwork that would make for an astonishing flag, poster or t-shirt motive.

Final rating: 70%