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Heaven and Hell excel at ye olde power-dungeon plod. Too bad Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler's most churning riffs tend to last mere seconds, before getting buried under attention-deficit arrangements and Dio's theatrical mythopoeia--which gets tiring when so many songs exceed six minutes.
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Q MagazineIts supulchral riffs, histrionic vocals and ludicrous lyrics are all comfortingly familiar. Something unexpected wouldn't have gone amiss, mind. [Jul 2009, p.117]
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They do their best to distance themselves from Actual Sabbath, but too often it’s by slouching through their Satanic netherworld, Dio’s cabaret bludgeoned down by lurching riffs and over-egged orchestration.
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There is a small group of Black Sabbath fans who believe the band produced its best work after singer Ronnie James Dio replaced Lord of Darkness/future variety-show host Ozzy Osbourne in the late '70s. Alas, their case will not be aided by their new album.
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While Tony Iommi churns out stock riffs, Devil You Know’s success largely depends on whether you can take Dio seriously--not as a vocalist (he’s one of the best in the metal game), but as a diminutive old man bellowing innocuous dungeons-and-dragons lyrics, and so unconvincingly that you have to wonder if he actually believes a single word. This record doesn’t make a strong case.
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The legendary foursome sounds as if they’re merely going through the motions.
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UncutNow 29 years on, The Devil You Know can't quite muster that kind of muscle [heard in Black Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell"]. [Jul 2009, p.88]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 27 out of 29
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Mixed: 1 out of 29
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Negative: 1 out of 29
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NovemberHAug 4, 2009
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LeonOct 4, 2009Masterpiece!
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EvilJohnMJul 14, 2009