Dio's influence is heavy on this album as well. Dio-esque lyrics are present at every turn. No bad thing in my opinion. Pompous and preposterous lyrics they may be at times, but they are ideally suited to the music.
The Devil You Know isn't an album that grabs you by the scruff of the neck first time out. It's too subtle for that. It's what you would call a grower. As it grows, it wraps itself around you and squeezes you into submission.
Stand out tracks so far include the superb single "Bible Black", which starts with a tantalizing acoustic intro and "The Turn Of The Screw". "Eating the Cannibals", a tongue in cheek statement on the fact that we feed animals on the remains of their own kind, is a killer track as well and picks up the pace considerably from the slower, more pounding tracks early on in the track listing.
All in all, a brilliant piece of work from a band (with the exception of Appice, who didn't join the lineup until The Mob Rules) who sound as fresh on this release as they did back on 1980s Heaven and Hell album from which they take their name.
Now, repeat after me "Ozzy who?"
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