Review Summary: Dio delivers exactly what the listener expects from him: HEAVY METAL! Horns up!
If you call yourself a fan of heavy metal, you're surely aware of Ronnie James Dio's importance, if not, school is now in session…
In the 80s, Ronnie James Dio
fucking took over. Sure, he was in
Elf and
Rainbow in the 70s, blablabla, but when the 80s came ‘round, Dio showed us what he was capable of. He started the 80s with no small feat; he
fucking saved
Black Sabbath. He did the unthinkable. He made people, if only for a second, think "Ozzy who?" Then, four years later (that's 1984) he released one of the greatest metal albums of all time, the proto-power metal masterpiece
Holy Diver.
Over 20 years later Dio still hasn't stopped…or grown. His voice, a voice more powerful than the man himself, has remained virtually the same. Ronnie James has also sort of become a point of comedy, yet somehow, that's just part of his appeal. This can't be anything new; those of you who have seen the video for
Holy Diver will surely understand the man's comedic value. Nonetheless, Dio has more or less become an inside joke amongst metal fans, but they poke fun at him out of respect. Whether it be his brief appearance on South Park or the constant referral to his age and lyrical content by
Tenacious D, it's pretty safe to say that these jokes have helped keep his name relevant. Rather than getting all offended, Dio plays up these jokers. Tenacious D wrote a song about the man aptly titled
Dio, a song which poked fun at his ever-increasing age. Rather than throw a fit, Dio rewarded the D by putting them in the video for his song
Push. He's an elf-like Italian man who likes to parade around in puffy shirts, carry swords and frequently flash the devil horns to the rhythm of his music; I don't think anyone is more aware of how silly this sounds than the man himself. Alas, that's essentially the story of a man and while named after a man, Dio is a band, so let's move on.
Killing the Dragon, Dio's 2002 release, is what fans have come to expect. It's heavy
fucking metal- nothing more, nothing less. The album wastes no time re-introducing us to why we've come to love Dio's music; the listener is instantly introduced to both the power of his voice and the instrumental prowess of his band members, evoking memories of what made
Holy Diver such a classic.
The album gives you exactly what you'd expect and want as a Dio fan, which is just as much of a pro as it is a con. While
Killing the Dragon is certainly not
Holy Diver Part 2, it's pretty damn close. Sure, Dio's voice has garnered some minor wear and tear and the guitars sound a little bit chunkier, but when push comes to shove this album gives off a sound fans of past Dio releases will instantly recognize.
Better In The Dark is more or less a re-write of
Stand Up And Shout, and the bassline in
Scream is like a slightly sped-up cut and paste job of
Holy Diver (the track). The only real oddball on the album is
Rock & Roll, which fuses
Led Zeppelin with 80s Arena Metal and an odd
Meshuggah-like chug.
Honestly though, I can't complain. Sure it sounds like something you've heard before, but when that something is as strong as
Holy Diver, who
fucking cares? Obviously
Killing the Dragon didn't have the same impact as the 1984 classic, but I don't think anyone expected it to. It's new material and it doesn't suck, that's all that matters to me. The music is great, the instrumentation is outstanding and Dio himself is as lyrically and vocally strong as ever. So, while I agree that Dio
has rocked for a long, long time, I have to do the unthinkable and disagree with the D for just one moment… Dio, it is
not time to pass the torch.
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Dio has since released
Master of the Moon (2004) as well as two live releases (
Evil Or Divine: Live in New York City and
Holy Diver Live). He is still touring despite the fact he is now in his late 50s/early 60s (his age has never been confirmed).
