DIO: 'The Very Beast Of Dio Vol. 2' Coming Soon

A new DIO compilation album, "The Very Beast Of Dio Vol. 2", will be released later in the year. The 17-song set will include three bonus tracks, two of which are new and have never been made available on a full DIO CD before. The cover artwork for the set was created by Marc Sasso, who previously worked on DIO's "Killing The Dragon" and "Master Of The Moon" albums.

The original "The Very Beast Of Dio" compilation was officially certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 11, 2009 for shipments in the United States in excess of 500,000 copies.

Issued in October 2000, "The Very Beast Of Dio" was the second greatest-hits collection CD — and the first to be released in the U.S. — from the Ronnie James Dio-fronted band.

In late 2010, former DIO member Craig Goldy revealed that there were plans to release a new song which Ronnie nearly completed before his death. The guitarist told U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, "We were working on tracks for a new DIO album just before Ronnie died in May [2010]. And we did almost finish one song. Wendy [Dio, Ronnie's widow/manager] has been talking about reissuing [DIO's] 'Magica' album (originally released in 2000) with bonus tracks, including this one." He adds, "The thing is that the lyrics deal with what Ronnie was going through at the time, when he was battling cancer. So now they are very emotional. It's hard to listen without a lump in your throat."

Prior to his death, Ronnie was working on two follow-up albums to "Magica". One of the songs completed during those sessions, "Elektra", was made available as part of the DIO "Tournado" box set (which was originally made for the DIO fall 2009 European tour which was cancelled after Ronnie got sick) in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, signed and numbered.

Ronnie previously said about "Elektra", "It's a really good song, and part of the whole 'Magica' trilogy. It's hard for it to stand alone, so I did write an explanation of what it was about. It's just a brief glimpse into what will be 'Magica' again. There are some special plans."

One of the last-ever recorded sons by Ronnie James Dio, "Metal Will Never Die", appears on "Bitten By The Beast", the new solo album from Dio's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein — a former member of RONNIE DIO & THE PROPHETS, THE ELECTRIC ELVES, ELF, and the leader of the legendary New York band THE RODS.

The second song Ronnie James Dio recorded during the sessions with Feinstein — entitled "The Code" — surfaced on THE RODS' latest LP, "Vengeance".

DIO's last release was the "Holy Diver Live" CD, featuring a performance of the classic "Holy Diver" album in its entirety, from start to finish, recorded live for the very first time in 2005 in front of a sold-out London crowd. It also includes, among others, "Heaven & Hell", "Sign of the Southern Cross" and "Mob Rules" from vocalist Ronnie James Dio's BLACK SABBATH days, "Tarot Woman", "Man on the Silver Mountain" and "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" from the RAINBOW era and "We Rock" from his solo career.