Heaven And Hell Sound Tired
April 29, 2009 by Scott
I’m probably going to catch some shit for this review but to be totally honest, I really don’t care. Here is a quick, half-assed review of The Devil You Know.
I picked up the new Heaven And Hell album today and I almost fell asleep on the ride home while listening to it. I was waiting for that one track to jolt me, to kick me in the pants but it never came. I know Black Sabbath and Dio fans alike are probably jizzing all over this thing, but it just sounds very tired to me.
When I say tired I mean slow and stretched out. I’m not saying it’s bad because there are a lot of cool riffs and signature Tony Iommi solos. RJD’s vocals sound good, as does Geezer Butler’s bass playing. Vinnie Appice’s drumming sounds programmed and slow but I only think that’s because it just sounds all too slow.
If they had kicked up the speed about 5 to 8 more beats per second I think I would have more good things to say about The Devil You Know. In fact, I ripped it using Windows Media Player and then played it at an increased speed of 1.5 X and I liked it a lot better.
I was really looking forward to this album and wouldn’t spend the money on it just to give it a bad review but I think I was expecting it to sound a bit more lively. Perhaps with time I can learn to appreciate it, but for now I’m just not feeling it.
(Image: Amazon.com)
There are no more hardcore Dio fans than me but I have to agree with you. This album, while good, is definitely lacking. I can’t get enough of Bible Black though.
Eating The Cannibals is one that I dig more than the others.
Couldn’t agree with your review more. Bought the CD and brought it back to work to have a listen and rip onto my computer. While listening during the rip, I became sooooooo bored and sleepy that I had to remove the disc and delete the CD from my computer.
You arent gonna catch any shit from me either and I am a hardcore Dio fan. If this came out in 1987 it maybe would have been….no truth is it would have put me to sleep then too.
Well I am certainly glad I’m not the only one that feels this way. I thought I might be missing something, but obviously the feeling is pretty mutual.
I thought it was a pretty good album, but it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. I think it was overhyped. It’s good, just not as good as I had hoped.