The Devil You Know (Heaven and Hell album)
Encyclopedia
The Devil You Know is the only studio album from heavy metal
band Heaven & Hell released under the band name "Heaven & Hell"; the members had previously recorded as a group in an earlier line-up of Black Sabbath
. The Devil You Know was Ronnie James Dio
's final studio appearance prior to his death in May 2010.
The album's US import was released in Japan on April 24, 2009, four days earlier than its original due date of April 28. The Japan domestic pressing which is a SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) was released on April 27. Produced by the band and sound engineer Mike Exeter.
The Devil You Know reached the top 10 in its first week of release, debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200
chart, with 30,000 copies sold.
-era Black Sabbath
line-up recorded three new tracks, "The Devil Cried", "Shadow of the Wind", and "Ear in the Wall" for an upcoming greatest hits package entitled Black Sabbath: The Dio Years
. Guitarist Tony Iommi
said that the tracks were created because he felt there was nothing worthwhile releasing in the vaults from the Dio-era studio recordings and so these new songs were written and recorded. The song "The Devil Cried" was released as a promotional single for the release. Initially Dio commented that after the recording of those songs, he expected to leave the band and return to Dio
and that another "Sabbath album" was "the last thing on my mind". Iommi commented that Heaven & Hell agreed on an album whilst the band was in Japan
on their 2007 tour
. The band started work on the album before and after the Metal Masters Tour
in Dio and Iommi's houses respectively. Each member submitted CDs of material for the project. Iommi has described the work so far as being "really good, pretty powerful".
is adapted from a painting by Per Øyvind Haagensen entitled Satan. The artwork features the numbers 25 and 41. Geezer Butler
stated in an interview that the numbers refer to the Bible
verse Matthew
25:41, which deals with the Last Judgment
where "those who sit at the left side of God
are cast down into Hell
". He also has explained that the name of the album is a reference to the name of the band, as fans know them as Black Sabbath. When finalizing the cover art, the band narrowed it down to their two favorites but had a difficult time making a final decision. The second of those two favorites prominently features the traditional Black Sabbath devil logo. That alternative cover is available exclusively at Wal-Mart
within the United States
.
in matching its moment. However, it goes on to note that Heaven & Hell expresses a "very different side of their musical personalities" than Black Sabbath, and that the differing band name is suitable. Metal Hammer
described the album as "one of the heavy releases of the year". Martin Popoff
rated the album as better than Dehumanizer
, but not as good as Heaven and Hell
or Mob Rules. He described Dio's vocals being delivered with "thespian enunciation" and "passion".
Music review blog Gears of Rock said the album is "purely sinister, an instant classic, that melts your face with gloomy rhetoric and riffs of impending doom." The album currently holds a score of 63 at the aggregate review site, MetaCritic
. Metal-Rules.com named this album the best metal album of 2009.
) in support of The Devil You Know. The band's first scheduled date was in Bogota on May 5, 2009. They were supported by progressive rock acts Coheed and Cambria
and The Mars Volta
on North America for a select number of shows in August 2009.
Production
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Heaven & Hell released under the band name "Heaven & Hell"; the members had previously recorded as a group in an earlier line-up of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
. The Devil You Know was Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
's final studio appearance prior to his death in May 2010.
The album's US import was released in Japan on April 24, 2009, four days earlier than its original due date of April 28. The Japan domestic pressing which is a SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) was released on April 27. Produced by the band and sound engineer Mike Exeter.
The Devil You Know reached the top 10 in its first week of release, debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, with 30,000 copies sold.
Conception
In 2006 the Ronnie James DioRonnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
-era Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
line-up recorded three new tracks, "The Devil Cried", "Shadow of the Wind", and "Ear in the Wall" for an upcoming greatest hits package entitled Black Sabbath: The Dio Years
Black Sabbath: The Dio Years
Black Sabbath: The Dio Years is a 2007 compilation CD of material from recordings made during vocalist Ronnie James Dio's tenure in the band. The CD contains full album length, remastered tracks culled from all three studio albums; Heaven and Hell , Mob Rules , Dehumanizer , and the live album Live...
. Guitarist Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
said that the tracks were created because he felt there was nothing worthwhile releasing in the vaults from the Dio-era studio recordings and so these new songs were written and recorded. The song "The Devil Cried" was released as a promotional single for the release. Initially Dio commented that after the recording of those songs, he expected to leave the band and return to Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
and that another "Sabbath album" was "the last thing on my mind". Iommi commented that Heaven & Hell agreed on an album whilst the band was in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on their 2007 tour
Heaven and Hell 2007 Tour
The Heaven and Hell 2007 Tour was a global concert tour by Heaven & Hell in support of Black Sabbath's The Dio Years compilation CD.-History:...
. The band started work on the album before and after the Metal Masters Tour
Metal Masters Tour
The Metal Masters Tour was a short 2008 American and Canadian concert tour featuring Judas Priest, Motörhead, Heaven & Hell, and Testament.Heaven & Hell, Motörhead, Judas Priest, and Testament used the three-week arena tour to support their recent albums The Rules of Hell, Motörizer, Nostradamus,...
in Dio and Iommi's houses respectively. Each member submitted CDs of material for the project. Iommi has described the work so far as being "really good, pretty powerful".
Title and art
The album artworkAlbum cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
is adapted from a painting by Per Øyvind Haagensen entitled Satan. The artwork features the numbers 25 and 41. Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
stated in an interview that the numbers refer to the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
verse Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
25:41, which deals with the Last Judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
where "those who sit at the left side of God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
are cast down into Hell
Hell in Christian beliefs
Christian views on Hell vary, but in general traditionally agree that hell is a place or a state in which the souls of the unsaved suffer the consequences of sin....
". He also has explained that the name of the album is a reference to the name of the band, as fans know them as Black Sabbath. When finalizing the cover art, the band narrowed it down to their two favorites but had a difficult time making a final decision. The second of those two favorites prominently features the traditional Black Sabbath devil logo. That alternative cover is available exclusively at Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Critical reception
Initial reviews of the album have been very positive. Allmusic described the album as being like Black Sabbath's ParanoidParanoid (album)
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...
in matching its moment. However, it goes on to note that Heaven & Hell expresses a "very different side of their musical personalities" than Black Sabbath, and that the differing band name is suitable. Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
described the album as "one of the heavy releases of the year". Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff is a Canadian-born music journalist and critic who covers the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles magazine, he has additionally written over twenty books that both critically evaluate heavy metal and document its history...
rated the album as better than Dehumanizer
Dehumanizer
Dehumanizer is the sixteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in June 1992.It was the first Black Sabbath studio album in over a decade to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals and Vinny Appice on drums. It is also the first in nine years to feature original bassist...
, but not as good as Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)
Heaven and Hell is the ninth studio album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in April 1980. This is their first album featuring Ronnie James Dio, and first with producer Martin Birch.-Album information:...
or Mob Rules. He described Dio's vocals being delivered with "thespian enunciation" and "passion".
Music review blog Gears of Rock said the album is "purely sinister, an instant classic, that melts your face with gloomy rhetoric and riffs of impending doom." The album currently holds a score of 63 at the aggregate review site, MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Metal-Rules.com named this album the best metal album of 2009.
Touring
Heaven & Hell embarked on a second international tour (after their 2007 tourHeaven and Hell 2007 Tour
The Heaven and Hell 2007 Tour was a global concert tour by Heaven & Hell in support of Black Sabbath's The Dio Years compilation CD.-History:...
) in support of The Devil You Know. The band's first scheduled date was in Bogota on May 5, 2009. They were supported by progressive rock acts Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Formed in 1995, the group incorporates aspects of progressive rock, punk rock, metal and post-hardcore....
and The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
on North America for a select number of shows in August 2009.
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Finnish Albums Chart | 5 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 8 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 15 |
| German Albums Chart | 17 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 37 |
| French Albums Chart | 53 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 84 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 31 |
| Polish Albums Chart | 20 |
| UK Albums Chart | 21 |
| USA Albums Chart | 8 |
Personnel
Heaven & Hell- Ronnie James DioRonnie James DioRonald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
– vocals, keyboards - Tony IommiTony IommiAnthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Geezer ButlerGeezer ButlerGeezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Vinny AppiceVinny AppiceVincent Samson Appice , also known as Vinny Appice is a rock drummer of American Italian descent and the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion
Production
- ProducedRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Dio, Iommi, and Butler, with additional production by Mike Exeter - RecordedAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
by Mike Exeter - MixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and additional recording by Wyn Davis, assisted by Mike Sutherland and Adam Arnold - MasteredAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
by Stephen MarcussenStephen MarcussenStephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer of Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California. Marcussen is one of the most sought-after mastering engineers in the music industry and his expertise has been coveted by a wide range of artists over the years... - Art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
and design by Masaki Koike - Cover illustrationAlbum coverAn album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
by Per Øyvind Haagensen - Photograph by Chapman BaehlerChapman BaehlerChapman Baehler is a photographer and director primarily working with musicians.His photographs have been featured on more than 160 albums since the mid-1990s, covering artists including Brooks & Dunn , Iggy Pop , Nine Inch Nails, Kelly Clarkson, Stone Temple Pilots, John Mayer, Fishbone,...
- EtchingEtchingEtching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s by Johann Koch