HEAVEN AND HELL: New Album Tentatively Due In March/April

January 5, 2009

According to legendary heavy metal guitarist Tony Iommi, the upcoming album from HEAVEN AND HELL — the band featuring BLACK SABBATH members Iommi, Ronnie James Dio (vocals),Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums) — is tentatively scheduled for release in March/April via Rhino. The group's first LP since SABBATH's "Dehumanizer" (1992) is being recorded at Rockfield studios in Wales, U.K. (where "Dehumanizer" was also tracked). "It's all going very well, I'm pleased to say," Iommi said in a January 5, 2009 online posting.

Ronnie James Dio, who co-wrote the self-produced album with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler during sessions in Los Angeles and England, told Revolver magazine that the CD "sounds great. It's a real cross-section of everything we've done, from 'Heaven and Hell' through 'Mob Rules' and 'Dehumanizer'. I think there's a lot of 'Dehumanizer' in it, but a lot of other things, too, a real good blend of what this band has represented."

HEAVEN AND HELL has scheduled the following European tour dates:

May 30 - Moscow, RUS @ B1 Maximum
May 31 - Moscow, RUS @ B1 Maximum
Jun. 02 - Helsinki, FIN @ Icehall
June 3-6 - Sölvesborg, SWE - Sweden Rock
Jun. 04 - Oslo, NOR @ Spektrum
Jun. 08 - Gießen, GER @ Hessenhallen
Jun. 09 - Berlin, GER @ Zitadelle
Jun. 10 - Bamberg, GER @ Jako-Arena
Jun. 13 - Burgum, NETH - Waldrock
Jun. 14 - Karlsruhe, GER @ Europahalle
Jun. 16 - Bonn, GER @ Museumsmeile
Jun. 17 - Zürich, SWI @ Volkshaus
Jun. 19-21 - Clisson, FRA - Hellfest

More shows will be announced soon.

More than two years ago, Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice reunited to record a trio of new songs for Rhino's "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" before launching a highly anticipated and greatly acclaimed world tour under their new moniker HEAVEN AND HELL. Revitalized by the reunion, the lineup is back in the studio now recording the first-ever full-length studio album from HEAVEN AND HELL. To whet the fans' appetites for the new album, HEAVEN AND HELL returned to the road this past summer for a short stint on the Metal Masters Tour, a month-long North American trek with JUDAS PRIEST, MOTÖRHEAD, and TESTAMENT.

Regarding the band's decision to continue to operate as HEAVEN AND HELL rather than BLACK SABBATH, Iommi told Billboard.com earlier this year, "It really is BLACK SABBATH, whatever we do. We just choose to go out as HEAVEN AND HELL so everyone knows what they're getting [and] so people won't expect to hear 'Iron Man' and all those songs. We've done them for so many years, it's nice to do just all the stuff with did with Ronnie again."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).