Dehumanizer

Back in the early nineties, my Black Sabbath discovery days were marked by an odd mixture of cathartic revelation and confusion, as within my none too hairy palms were an obscure (non MA listed) "Greatest Hits" compilation and this here 1992 Dio fronted "comeback" titled Dehumanizer, the electric skelator cover of which still greatly rattles me to this day.

While it paid tribute to salt-of-the-Earth classics "Black Sabbath" proper, "Paranoid", "N.I.B.", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and hard-driven Vol.4 favourite, "Tomorrow's Dream" (as well as quizzical "Changes"), Dehumanizer completely upended everything I thought I knew about the legendary pioneer, since I wasn't yet aware of the band's tumultuous history until then i.e. its myriad tiffs and line-up, er, changes.

Anyhow, I remember an ancient interview with Tony Iommi in Guitar World where, when asked to describe their new material in one word, the shaggy, middle aged axe man responded with "raunchy", an apt descriptor whether it relates to fast, complex bangers like "Computer God" and "TV Crimes" or flaming doomster dives such as "After All (The Dead)" - whose hypnotic languor grew on me despite misgivings about its stodgy pace - and shortest song title known to (wo)man or "deus ex machina", "I". Bass wise, Geezer Butler's tone is thick and rotund, making itself king at every turn; the same goes for Vinnie Appice's rambunctiously rollicking drums. If anything, he makes a helluva entrance on "Computer God".

Although I prefer his fresher, more mystical performance on Heaven And Hell, Ronnie James Dio's bellowing chants resonate with power and conviction, thus proving to aspiring young-bloods he still had the ability to propel old wizened farts back to glory (not that Tony Martin failed to deliver exemplary performances on Headless Cross and Tyr, of course).

Lyrically, Dehumanizer rules! They're many wicked examples, but the best lies in "Time Machine": "Oh what are you gonna do/When there's a part of you/That needs to run with the wind?", or this doozy from "TV Crimes": "A supermarket of salvation/Take a look inside the store/Shop around and find forgiveness for yourself/But he gives more", where I always mistake "supermarket" for "Super Mario"...

Consider this essential for any confirmed Black Sabbath fan. It's also a landmark heavy metal album from that long lost era.

This album right here is Black Sabbath's greatest achievement.

I've always been pretty undecisive about my feelings towards this statement. My introduction to this band was with the track Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and for years I swore that to be their best song and album. Eventually down the line, my favorite became Born Again. I still love these two albums, but I think I'm finally deciding that this one is their true greatest achievement. There are many reasons why I've chosen this one specifically, so I'll just get those reasons out of the way.

First of all, this is their best produced album. Black Sabbath is known for a lot of things (like practically inventing the whole goddamn metal genre), but something they are not not known for are the mixing on their albums. This album sounds phenomenal. The drums hit harder than ever before, the riffs rip right through, and the vocals are clear as day. Oh, and that bass, it's so fucking perfect. This is easily their best produced album. There's no real argument there.

Ronnie James Dio is one of my favorite vocalists ever. His shouts and his snarl are perfect, and they're perfect for Black Sabbath. There's just one issue: the two other albums he sang on with Sabbath were upbeat and didn't sound like Sabbath. Not that Mob Rules and Heaven & Hell were bad albums, they were pretty damn good, but they lacked that dark sound Black Sabbath were known for. This album is a GIANT exception, as this may be one of Sabbath's darkest albums (their darkest being, in my opinion, Born Again). He sounds absolutely amazing on this album. His vocals on the more radio friendly tracks like TV Crimes and Time Machine are perfectly snarly enough but still not too intense for those precious parents that have to hear their teenage children listening to this, while tracks like Computer God and the absolutely FANTASTIC After All (The Dead) have Dio going absolutely batshit insane behind the microphone.

With all that said, lets talk about the songs themselves. This album opens with Computer God, which is a really damn good song. It's midtempo, the main riff is catchy, and you'll find yourself headbanging along with it by the end. Another song in the same vein as this is I, which is another midtempo track that is also very catchy. Now, I want to talk about my absolute favorite Black Sabbath song... After All (The Dead). This song is phenomenal. It's beyond catchy, I find myself humming this one a shit-ton in my spare time. The dark intro sets the mood immediately, and the main riff is so fucking good that it absolutely destroys everything in its path. There are some aforementioned radio hits on this album, like the great TV Crimes which is catchy and you will (I promise) find yourself singing the chorus. Time Machine is another radio hit that was actually featured in Wayne's World, and I do enjoy this one a lot as well, but I have not much at all to say about this one as I do the rest. And that's the main issue (and only issue I can find with this album). It's so consistent that writing a review on it is a very daring test, because it's beyond difficult to try and come up with something original to say about the rest of the album. This may be a deal breaker for some, but I personally don't have much of an issue with this. If it's still high quality, it doesn't bother me.

Overall, this album is practically perfect. If you didn't care for this album when you heard it, please listen to it again, and if you have not heard it yet, PLEASE LISTEN TO IT!

I give Dehumanizer a 100%, with 10/10 stars. Check out: After All (The Dead), TV Crimes, Computer God, I

Remember all of that talk of Ronnie James Dio doing doom metal on The Devil You Know but me not finding it to be as great as everyone else? Well guess what, Dehumanizer is where I get my (better) dose of that. Considering this is the only Black Sabbath record from the ‘90s that’s really anything I’d call great, it also serves as a bit of direction in the midst of general confusion. No less, this is also probably the first truly doom metal album the band did since the mid-70s, and managed to sound closer to that genre’s styles of the time period.

So it goes without saying that there’s a lot for this to live up to. While Dio had already kinda started heading this way with Lock Up The Wolves, he managed to channel it over here alongside some stellar songwriting tactics. Never at any point does Tony Iommi lose his charm, heavily through the ability to remain riff focused but still having solos that just scream cleanliness and trade off with Ronnie in the foreground. This record as a whole is also the greatest example of some of the steadiest pace-progression they ever had. Nothing is overly jarring, and the way that they tend to start on slower, menacing riffs that work their way into a galloping frenzy is pretty fun.

That doesn’t mean that Dehumanizer completely ignores the frontman’s roots. I absolutely adore “TV Crimes” because of its ability to lift him high and reflect the raw talent, as well as coat it with this undertow of terror that fits the rest of the record’s approach. On a similar subject, opener “Computer God” hits us with the aforementioned slow riffage to start us on the right foot, following with one of the best guitar solos on the disc. Furthermore, there are some seriously hooky chops among us. The significantly warmer makeup to “Sins Of The Father” is so memorable, and the chugging choppiness of “Master Of Insanity” is a real earworm.

While it may have taken a while to grow on me (mostly due to not being acquainted with the style when I was younger), I do think that the Dio-reunion record is an essential listen. It may not be my favorite subjectively, but it gets to spread its wings from so many different angles, and does more for me than Mob Rules does. Making that work in a completely consistent way almost always allows for a gem.

After almost a decade of 3 different singers and mediocre albums Black Sabbath finally brought back the best singer the band ever had, Ronnie James Dio. With Dehumanizer we see the band pick up right where they left on with 1981's Mob Rules and it is a shame it only lasted with this album only. The band seemed to be revitalized with the return of Dio fronting them and produced in my opinion the last great Black Sabbath album. Production/mix wise this album sounds great and everything is clear and audible even the bass is out there in open like always when it comes to Black Sabbath you could always hear Geezer groovin' away throughout the tracks. Iommi's guitar sound is incredible here and is reminiscent of the early 80's Black Sabbath guitar tones. Dio as always sounds immaculate even at 50 here in 1992 he just kills it on this record, the dudes voice was simply ageless. Appice is amazing as always and easily adapts back into the doomy sound of Black Sabbath after being away for 10 years and also playing with Dio on his first 4 releases during the 80's.

Dehumanizer contains 10 tracks clocking in at just over 50 minutes and provides a lot of different elements while still retaining their iconic doom metal vibe and atmosphere. Some of these tunes are really good and quite catchy while some others are a bit cheesy and just sort of drag on. "After All' and "Letters From Earth" are classic sounding Black Sabbath super slow doomy tracks they drudge on in a good way. "Computer God" and "Master of Insanity" have these start stop type of riffs with frequent pauses allowing for some clever and catchy powerful verse lines from Dio. Also that intro riff in "Master of Insanity" is quite technical for the band as most of their tracks do not contain that type of riffage and timing. Iommi definitely stepped up his game on this record solo wise. Tracks like "Time Machine" is really uptempo for Black Sabbath standards keeping a steady pace throughout the entire song. "I" is a blend of all these techniques making it the most versatile track on the entire disc to my ears. "Buried Alive" has a ridiculously heavy intro and keeps that gritty vibe throughout the track and is one of the heaviest Dio era Black Sabbath tunes ever. My favorite song on this album is the ballad "Too Late" and for me Dio's best performance on the whole album. He just adds a whole other layer to these type of tracks not saying he wasn't good at the heavier stuff because he was just great at everything but these ballad tunes he really shined.

"TV Crimes" and "Sins of the Father" are pretty generic and lackluster compared to the rest of the songs here. "TV Crimes" is by far the worst song on Dehumanizer and is just as cheesy as the music video for it and lyrically doesn't make any sense. I'm thoroughly surprised a song like "TV Crimes" got a music video compared to some of the other tracks on this record. "Sins of the Father" just drags along and feels a lot longer than what it actually is and the song itself is pretty generic compared to some of the moments in other songs on Dehumanizer. I feel like without Dio these two tracks would be pretty unlistenable. While I do like this album a lot for what it is I do believe it is a step down from the first wave of Dio era Black Sabbath albums due to there being a few tracks I would more of less skip over when listening to Dehumanizer mainly the two mentioned above. You have to be in a certain mood for this album I guess being the thrash fanatic I am but this album is definitely miles ahead of any of their releases post 1981. There isn't much more bad about this release other than some of the songs may be slightly boring and may feel longer than what they are if this isn't your main cup of tea. Other than that this is a damn solid album for band 20 plus years into their career and a much better album than the Dio solo work that came after Dehumanizer. As much as I like Dio on Dehumanizer and in Black Sabbath in general, I'd still take any of the 1970-1975 Ozzy era Black Sabbath albums over Dehumanizer.

It sucks this was the last Dio era Black Sabbath effort. I really would have liked to see what they could have done throughout the rest of the 90's had this lineup soldiered on. I believe the band could have possibly topped this release had another album surfaced with this lineup. It's no doubt though that Dehumanizer was a nice return to form after a decade of lineup changes and experimentation.

Despite the Tony Martin era of Sabbath being a delight for me up until this point in Sabbath's career, I gladly push it aside for "Dehumanizer." The greatest Sabbath lineup of all time, which debuted on "Mob Rules," returns for another Sabbath one-off. Geezer Butler returns to the fold alongside Vinny Appice, and of course, the unparalleled Ronnie James Dio on vocals. For my money, this is far and away Black Sabbath's heaviest album. Iommi sounds re-energized once again with the old gang back together, and returns to being at the top of his rift crafting work. "Dehumanizer" might be Vinny Appice's heaviest work of his career (though I'd say Dio's "The Last in Line" has more technical playing from him), and Geezer's much missed songwriting and standout bass work makes a big return here. Above all else, Dio sounds absolutely FURIOUS on this record. He still has the beauty you'd expect from his voice, but many songs on the record shows him replacing this with livid, intense, angry vocals. As another note, this album has one of my all time favorite album covers. The sinister, evil, yet cool sci-fi feeling of it is very captivating to me.

Nowhere does the album's heaviness show better than on the closer "Buried Alive." Iommi's main riff almost sounds like a swarm of angry hornets is approaching to devour you alive. Dio's aforementioned pissed off vocals have a bit of a distortion on them that make them sound spectral along with the anger. Dio's vocal melodies also switch between anger and fear, which give the song a haunting feel to it. I daresay this track is as close as Black Sabbath comes to making an 'extreme' metal track. Despite that, though, the song's chorus brings back Dio's traditional melodic side that shows that he still has the pipes he's famous for. "Master of Insanity" is all Geezer. This was a track that he literally carried over from one of his solo projects, and Sabbath really changed very little about it. Riffs are almost identical, a lot of the vocal melodies remained the same, and the chorus is exactly the same. If you haven't heard the demo from his band of this track, go out of your way to do so. Sabbath sped it up some, and obviously improved it with their master craftsmanship, but it's a GREAT song either way. Geezer leads the way himself with a fantastic bass intro before Iommi's main riff. Dio's perfected blend of anger and beauty is also on full display on the song. The chorus is powerful and catchy, and Vinny shows off his great flow with matching drum work accenting each riff and bass hook.

Geezer also brought with him the title for "Computer God," which opens up the album. However, unlike "Master of Insanity," the song is entirely different from his original demos. Only the title remained the same. "Computer God" is both my favorite song from this record, and also my favorite Black Sabbath song of all time. Vinny Appice opens the song up with a really heavy and satisfying drum intro that really demonstrates how underrated he is. I also find that the drums over the clanging of metal in the background set a good tone for both the track and the album. Iommi's riff stomps the ominous tune forward before Dio opens with his absolutely foreboding vocal melodies. Geezer also gets some moments to add little bass flourishes when there's a pause. Iommi's chorus riff is incredibly catchy for me, and Dio complements this with an awesome mixture of beautiful melody and theatrical warning. About halfway in, after the second chorus, Iommi slows the song down with a wonderful clean guitar part where Dio really gets to show the true beauty behind his voice. After that, the song picks back up to where it was for one more short moment before exploding into the song's final much quicker section. Iommi gives a great solo before Dio rushes in to finish the song's journey. Now, his vocal melodies are a mixture of anger and disappointment. Vocals that represent warnings being ignored, which led to a doomed conclusion. "Computer God" just has layers upon layers of depth and variety to it. Especially as an opener, there's so much to listen out for. Every member of the band is doing something special somewhere on it. One of the most underrated songs in all of the Dio era is "Letters from Earth" for me. Iommi has a ton of really killer underrated riffs on the track. The intro riff has an great flow, the verse riffs have an aggressive groove, and the riff he uses right before the solo for a bit is SUPER heavy. Dio's vocal melodies have a very distinct feel that sounds separate from the riff, but still connects back to it. The chorus is another catchy one, and Vinny is connecting the dots with his fills and crashes both for Dio and Iommi. Iommi is also adding periodic spacey guitar flourishes and accents, along with some light keyboard work to give the song some atmospheric weight fitting of the title.

Probably the song I hear talked about the most from "Dehumanizer" is "I." It's well deserving of the attention, too. Even though there are a handful of tracks from the album I prefer and wish got more attention, "I" is still pure Dio era Sabbath magic. Iommi busts out some trademark heavy riffs, and it's another track where Dio's powerful anger shines through and enhances the mood. Despite his anger on the song, though, his vocals, especially the chorus, have a very uplifting feeling. Only a singer of Dio's caliber is able to make his vocals so juxtaposed in such a magnificent way. Geezer also has a very underrated bass groove underneath the chorus. It's another Geezer part that is easy not to notice, but as soon as you pay attention to how brilliant it is, it'll draw your attention every time you hear it from then on. The biggest outlier on "Dehumanizer," and I mean that in a good way, is "Too Late." The song is absolute beauty, and the track on the album where Dio shows the least anger, and gives us his famous melodic voice the most. Iommi opens with a fantastic acoustic part, and with Dio's sad vocals, it gives a feeling of sitting around a warm campfire to hear a story after a cold night. Once Vinny comes in, he's able to display the perfect amount of power in his drumming without overdoing it and ruining the somber beauty of the track. It's not all acoustic, though, as Iommi goes from acoustic to electric for the second chorus. Dio's vocals get appropriately more aggressive once the electric guitar kicks in. Still not with the glaring anger he has on the rest of this record, but he turns up the heat enough to make the transitions have weight. "Too Late" is really a journey of a track that runs the gambit of emotions and moods, and does them all justice. It gives some much needed air to "Dehumanizer."

Unfortunately, though, I have to point out that "Dehumanizer" does have one song weighing it down. It's the one and only Dio era Black Sabbath song I dislike, and find very little redeeming about. That song is "Time Machine." What a weak song. "Time Machine" doesn't deserve to stand along with any of the other Dio era songs. "Time Machine" wouldn't be a bad song for most of the other Sabbath eras, but I expect better of this lineup. Iommi's main riff on the song is pathetically weak. It has no balls and no weight behind it. It's a paper thin sounding riff. I also don't like any of Dio's vocal melodies. None of the melodies are exceptional or super fitting. His chorus melodies are maybe the worst of the worst. They sound bored, and don't have the power or drive that Dio almost always provides. Iommi's chorus riff and Geezer's bass work in the spacey transition part are probably the only two good things I can say about the track. Otherwise, this song is an utter disappointment. I'm also not the biggest fan of "After All," but it's still leagues above "Time Machine." "After All" is without a doubt a more traditionally Sabbath feeling doom-y song. Both Iommi's riffs and Dio's vocal melodies are downtrodden and depressing. They both set a very good atmospheric tone for the song, but the tune just doesn't really pick up enough for me. Despite the mood being spot on, the song really drags its heels way more than it should. Every section of the song takes just a bit too long, and although I do enjoy this track, I find myself wanting to fast forward bits and pieces of it for it to make its point faster. Still a quality song despite that.

I put "Dehumanizer" as Sabbath's second best album of all time behind "Mob Rules." It definitely has more fat that could have been trimmed off of it than "Heaven and Hell" or "Mob Rules" has, but as a full product, I still think the aggressive heaviness of this record makes it a bit better than the very, very safe "Heaven and Hell" sound. Sadly, though, Dio's return didn't last long. "Dehumanizer" ended up being another one off for this lineup. After another disagreement, Dio once again left with Vinny Appice to go back to his solo band, and Iommi would look back to Tony Martin to pick the pieces up. This lineup would fortunately have one last hurrah with each other much later in their careers, though. Even with a different band name upon their return over 15 years after this record, this devil you know will ALWAYS be Black Sabbath to me.

The beginning of the nineties - we all know that this was not the best time for pure and honest metal. I was therefore surprised that a more or less outdated formation came to present the true spirit. Of course, I am speaking of Black Sabbath, the inventors of heavy metal. Indeed, Cronos, you did not invent each and every form of hard music. This is just one of your Luciferian fairytales. But little Satanists aside, what do you need for a good metal album? Well, one thing is for sure. Lock the door of the studio as soon as Ozzy appears on the horizon. Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P.) is responsible for the lead vocals and I have no doubt that many people like his powerful, expressive, melodic and poignant voice. On his solo albums, he sings a lot about rainbows and further nonsense, but here we have intelligent lyrics (about hypocritical TV preachers, for example) and capturing song titles like "Letters from Earth" or "Sins of the Father". Long story short, nobody misses the croaking owl called Ozzy. But let's make an experiment, everybody who is sad that Ozzy was not involved: clap your hands!

I hear nothing.

"Dehumanizer" suffers from an artwork that every demo combo would reject, but the songs have a heavy fundament, catchy riffs and strong choruses. It goes without saying that Dio's voice gives the tunes a very mighty and unique character, but there is also a very strong liaison between pure metal and atmospheric insertions. "After All (The Dead)", an absolute highlight, marks the prime example in this context, because its generic yet overwhelming guitar work creates a very scary mood and the lyrics match the composition excellently. A shiver runs down my spine when I am listening to lines like "What do you say to the dead / Is there a place where it's burning / It says in a book I once read / Yes there's a chance of returning". I don't believe in reincarnation and I hope that the world will never be confronted with my second me, but sometimes I wish that Dio would return. Or Paul Baloff. Or... too many to mention. But let's get back to the here and now. Tracks like "Sins of the Father" show the majestic approach of Black Sabbath very well. A pretty calm beginning leads to a heavyweight riff-monster which offers an almost bottomless depth. And there is a big difference whether a "normal" vocalist or Dio sings line like "how much longer are you gonna pay for yesterday - sins of the father".

"Too Late", the ballad of the full-length, does not remain behind the other tracks. Despite its pretty soft beginning, the song does not lack heaviness due to the crunchy riffs that form the second half. Now at the latest it is obvious that "Dehumanizer" is a jewel or maybe the jewel of Sabbath's catalogue. And therefore it is no surprise that the self-confident, stomping "I" and "Buried Alive" with its subliminally hysterical end finish the output in a very exciting manner. Both songs score with fantastic choruses that impress with their longevity and the dragging, flattening and droning guitar of "Buried Alive" leaves its mark as well. Dio and Iommi never forget to add a melodic touch, but it is clear for all to see (and to hear!) why this music is called heavy and not melodic metal. And this type of sometimes slow-paced, sometimes mid-paced metal is brilliantly performed. It's one of these albums where I am not able to find just one boring section. Not to mention a throwaway track. Each and every one is good or even excellent and they all paint pretty dark pictures, not at least because of the somehow pessimistic production. It is powerful, well-balanced and does not lack pressure, but it does not offer any rays of light and, just to avoid misunderstandings, that's a good thing.

Frankly speaking, I have never been a supporter of Black Sabbath. I respect them for their innovative force, but the hippie look of their early years made it hard for me to like them. Not to speak of Ozzy. Okay, he is the only owl that has a legendary status and, despite his odd style of singing, a certain charisma. Nevertheless, it is impossible for me to take a dude seriously that celebrates himself for having become his own caricature. Anyway, "Dehumanizer" is a robust and clearly structured album, coherently designed and with a lot of substance. On the one hand, it offers a kind of traditional "consensus metal", on the other hand it is full of exciting moments, sections and songs. So from my point of view, this timeless document of pure art has the power to inspire millions of metalheads. Maybe you are one of them.

While I do defend Tony's right to use the Sabbath name throughout the Ozz-less period, I've also made many a statement saying that the first two Sabbath albums with Dio weren't really proper sounding Sabbath albums, sounding more like Rainbow (or Dio, whatever you want to call it).

That ends right here.

This album is a return to the sound of Master of Reality, Volume 4, Sabotage, etc., etc., this is proper sounding Black Sabbath. It just happens to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Judging from the far more socially relevant lyrics, you'd think Geezer was back on lyric duties, but no it turns out Dio is very capable of writing beyond dragons and rainbows (after some prodding from Iommi, that is). Computer God in particular is a very inspired poem from the man on the silver mountain (termination of our youth, FOR WE DO NOT COMPUTE).

I suppose if you were to be super critical, you could say the one missing element is Bill Ward, but Ward was already losing his chops around 1980. Lemmy only knows what kind of positive effect, if any, his playing would have had on the album. True that the dream skinsman would have been Dio's former Rainbow bandmate Cozy Powell, but history seemed to prove they would stay former bandmates forever. Vinnie Appice does just as fine of a job, if not finer, as he did on The Mob Rules.

Highlights...good Lemmy what isn't a highlight? Well, I was never that crazy about Time Machine. Having one version on the album was trepidatious, but two (the reason this album doesn't make it past 90)? No thanks. I was a little annoyed when that was one of the Dehumanizer tracks chosen to play live when I saw this lineup on the 2008 Metal Masters tour. As opposed to After All (The Dead), Buried Alive, Too Late, I (no wait they played that one). Master Of Insanity is a particularly compelling blast of Zeppelin rocker energy. Yes I am making that comparison because there is a nicking of Wanton Song here, but then again I thought Wanton Song kind of sucked to begin with. The intro to Sins of the Father has a passing resemblance to Soundgarden's "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" but again, it takes something a bit too passive and meandering and gives it a sense of urgency and danger. I've heard a few critics (ok, just Martin Popoff) say this album was Sabbath following the grunge trend, similar to what Judas Priest did with Painkiller. Both notions I vehemently disagree with because both respective bands begat both of these trends. Sabbath in particular, no grunge/Seattle band would dare blaspheme it's name (well, Kim Thyali kind of did, but he ended hilariously languishing in obscurity. Having your riff correctly repurposed by a band you thought had "boring parts." Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off indeed). Sabbath merely swooped down like a bloody angel fast descending to show these flannel fruitcakes how its supposed to be done. They never did listen though did they?

An incredible metal record, an incredible 90s metal record, no less. This is the one post Ozzy-Sabbath album you need to own.

Black Sabbath and heavy metal as a whole were in big trouble around 1992. After a couple of mediocre studio albums, notably Headless Cross and TYR, Sabbath fell into the "man, they were great way back when..." speak as well as the state of metal after grunge came in and swept their depression-rock all over the music landscape. Outside of Metallica at the time, you didn't, or in a lot of cases couldn't, put out a metal album that would take much notice.

Even metal vocalist great Ronnie James Dio couldn't catch a break, playing to 3000 seat venues after playing 30,000 ones less than a decade earlier. But at one of those smaller venues former Sabbath bass great Geezer Butler visited Ronnie at one of his shows, grabbed a bass, and the two played music together after ten years apart. After speaking to only original member left guitarist Tony Iommi about the experience, it was decided that it was time again to join forces and reclaim Black Sabbath Mark II. And that result was Dehumanizer.

With the original line-up that created the classic album Mob Rules, Dehumanizer retained that metal power while ditching Ronnie's trademark "dungeon and dragons" lyrics with ones based upon the world of the early 90's, being the computer age "dehumanizing" the people that created it. The album featured amazing Iommi riffs, Dio vocals still in top form, Geezer playing with new life, and drummer Vinny Appice once again laying down the doom & boom of his powerful drumming. It was hard to believe that at the time these guys had been already recording music for over twenty years because this reunion showed them with more strength and power than ever. Well produced and still to this day as fresh as the year it was created, Dehumanizer brought Sabbath back into the spotlight and clearly shown through amidst the grunge river of the 1990's.

This reissue has got to be one of the best Black Sabbath Deluxe Editions out there. Where others have vocal-less versions of songs, some bad sounding live tracks, or a B-Side or two, Dehumanizer has 10 extra tracks, each worth your purchase. Not only do you get the alternate versions of both "Time Machine" & "Letters From Earth" (both of which I personally prefer over the ones that ended up on the album), but the single edit of "Master Of Insanity", and what I would like to go into with detail, the "Sundome" live tracks.

You see, I've been a fan of Sabbath since I could remember, but by the time I was old enough to go to concerts, it was very hard to actually see them live. The Iommi-led version of Sabbath just didn't sell enough tickets to continue an American concert tour back in the late 80/early 90's. But when the reformed Dio-era/Dehumanizer tour was announced, I was ready...and so were the fans. The concert they performed in Tampa Florida (only their second USA show on the tour) was amazing, and they played like they were twenty-feet high. It was a show worthy of a live album, and somehow my prayers were answered because when the Master Of Insanity promo CD single (Parts One & Two) came out, select tracks from my show were there! They recorded and released a total of 4 songs from University Of South Florida Sundome show.

Now not only does this Deluxe Edition feature those 4 tracks, they dug up yet another, the medley of "Master Of Insanity/After All (The Dead)", all remastered and sound great compared to the original CD-single issue. Along with all this, is great book-like packaging with unreleased photos and new liner notes that really explain what the life of Sabbath was like back then, and what eventually led to it's way-too-quick end until the 4 would re-reunite for Heaven And Hell over another decade later. So if you're a Dio or Sabbath fan, own Heaven And Hell or Holy Diver, this album deserves your attention. It is just as important as the Dio-led 80's albums and needs to be heard in this remastered form. Worth every, single penny I paid for it, this is the Deluxe Edition of Sabbath I'll cherish the most. All Hail Black Sabbath!

Black Sabbath has so many great albums that people generally overlook a few of their best releases. Everybody knows how great Paranoid and Master of Reality are, and even how amazing Heaven and Hell is; but not too many people, beside big Black Sabbath fans, know of the pure metal awesomeness that is De-freaking-Humanizer. 1992's Dehumanizer is one of this very decorated band's greatest efforts, it combines the raw, heavy sound of the 70's Sabbath with the intricate and masterful sound and songwriting of both Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. Also, this record has a healthy dosage of pure BADASSERY. Tony wrote some of the most crushingly heavy riffs for this one and Dio, while still retaining his masterful singing voice, sounds very pissed off and wicked. Vinny Appice is back and his drumming here is badass as well, while all of the drums here are quite simplistic, he absolutely HAMMERS them to match the super heavy feel of the album, and he nails everything. Also, Geezer is back with more epic basslines to put the icing on this very, very heavy cake.

The songs on Dehumanizer range from faster tracks like "TV Crimes" and "Time Machine" to heavier, more intense songs like my personal favorite: "I", the awesome opener "Computer God", and "Letters From Earth". The album has a pretty diverse track listing, with a wide array of different styled songs. Some of the earlier Sabbath albums all had a bag of songs that were pretty similar to each other, but here you get a really enjoyable listening (and headbanging) experience. The overall feel of Dehumanizer is a lot darker and heavier than the earlier two Dio-Sabbath records. Mob Rules hinted at this with a few tracks that featured dark lyrical themes and styles, but it is in full bloom here. Right from the opening riffing of "Computer God", I was immediately surprised by the sheer heaviness and power it has. Dio sings this album with a ton of anger and ferocity, that really sends this album over the top, in a good and badass way. The riffs and bass playing are really a wicked blend of both the classic 70's Sabbath and the two Dio-Sabbath records from the 80's. Tony chugs along with some of his best riffs of his career and tracks like "Letters From Earth" remind me of the old school Black Sabbath riffs, while songs like "Time Machine" and "Sins of the Father" would fit right in with the stuff from Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. The best songs on this album, in my opinion, are definitely "I", "Computer God", "Sins of the Father", "Letters From Earth" and "Master of Insanity". The rest are all amazing, and some will find that it's crazy that I left off "TV Crimes" and "After All", which both rule. It just shows that this album has a lot to offer to lots of different people. Some people say that "Too Late" sucks, but I disagree. It is the slowest on the album, and the majority of it is softly sung accompanied by acoustic guitar passages. I have grown to really like it, especially the cool part in the middle (the "Save me!!!" part). It's very well done, especially taking into consideration that that kind of song is very easily screwed up.

The instrumentation on Dehumanizer is really good. Black Sabbath may have gotten a little more technical before, like with Heaven and Hell, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and even some songs from Sabotage, but the musical skill is still very present here. Tony is top notch here, he usually is, but his riffs and solos are all wicked on this record. Geezer is also very good here, he plays some really awesome basslines, namely "TV Crimes" which has a really great bass part toward the middle. His bass tone is unique on this album, its pretty heavy but clanky too (see his little fill on "Computer God"). Vinny Appice is back, and he hammers the kit so hard on this record. I personally love his drumming here, it is pretty simple but it suits these songs so well and I think that the sound of the drums rules on here. Ronnie James Dio is spectacular on every record he sings on, and on Dehumanizer he is pissed off and ready to smash your face in. He sings these songs with this raw wickedness that you usually don't hear him unleash. His vocals on "I" are absolutely badass, and help make it the best track on this awesome album.

Dehumanizer is definitely one of the most underrated Black Sabbath albums, and one of the most underrated heavy metal albums as well. This is brilliant from start to finish, with some of Black Sabbath's greatest moments on here, like "I" and "Computer God". It is so awesome hearing those wicked riffs with angry ass Dio yelling over them, not to mention Vinny's super heavy, hammering drums. Dehumanizer really is fantastic, and it is arguably their best album, depending on what your tastes are. This album is a must have for all fans of Dio, and this is one of the best records he sang on. I strongly recommend this to all heavy metal fans and Black Sabbath fans. Those who like doom metal and dark lyrical themes and styles will love this as well. Dehumanizer is one of my favorite albums in my whole collection, it is freaking epic. This album seriously deserves a lot more attention, it is an absolute gem. This awesome record deserves more praise than it gets; it's a dark, mean, heavy, and wicked slab of pure heavy freakin' metal.

"I am virgin
I'm a whore
Giving nothing
The taker
The maker of war
I'll smash your face in!
But with a smile
All together
You'll never
Be stronger than me!"

There are some groups of people who when they get together, are bound to deliver quality. Be it the coordination among themselves coupled with their talents, you can see a spark, a striking superior quality compared to that of their peers. OK the group may have differences, ego problems, may even split, but be what may, they are an integral part of each other, and when they are together, they are bound to shake the world. The group of Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio and Geezer Butler is one such iconic group. Though having just a couple of albums together prior to this one, there can be no denying the fire these guys brought with them. So Tony Iommi, with limited success with Tony Martin (No offense against Martin, he is a terrific vocalist), decided to go for a reunion. Totally abandoning the power metal direction Iommi had taken since Dio's arrival, the band takes a dark, heavy and punishing road which can be dated back to the days when Tony Iommi single-handedly revolutionized the art of heavy riffing.

Technically the band is in awesome form. Tony Iommi proves just why he is the God of heavy riffs. The riffs are slow, heavy and crushing and majestically interwoven into each other. It feels as if you have been hit by a dozen of jackhammers on your head. The vocals are truly spectacular; an insane combination of spite, rage and fear mixed together in a glorious manner. If ever there was a doubt about Dio singing aggressively, it is put to rest here. He snarls, shrieks, roars and croons effectively adding a bleak and unpleasant colour to the music, a stark contrast from his Children Of The Sea days. Geezer is in great form himself with his grim bass lines providing for a perfect backdrop in the bleak scenario. The production is raw and punishing, with the rhythm guitar having a crisp and crunchy sound to it. The rest of the elements aren't ignored, and the vocals, drums and bass are balanced perfectly in.

The album comprises of ten spectacular tracks rooted down in pure doom metal. The consistency of the album is quite high; high so much so that this might be their most consistent album ever. A dark, sludgy and many a times an angry atmosphere decorates this album throughout its duration. The songs are catchy enough to be appreciated at the first listen and the choruses are creative and powerful. The lyrics are simple, yet powerful and go well along with the general bleak atmosphere of the record. The songwriting is simple and straight-forward, yet displaying a matured sense of musicianship which can only be achieved by veterans. Mostly the songs are constructed around a single or at most two riffs but are arranged cleverly enough to ensure that the song remains powerful throughout it's duration. The song length is perfectly balanced and is utilized well for most of the time. Low points in the album are few and between. Just somewhere between Time Machine, Sins Of The Father and Too Late, the album loses its steam which it has picked up. But fortunately the lows are not too low and are far few and between to be ignored.

This album deserves a worthy mention among the very best of Black Sabbath with such gems as Sabotage, Master Of Reality, Heaven And Hell, Tyr. Bottom-line, this album is a must listen for every fan of heavy metal. It is a shame that this album came out during the dark ages and failed to receive the attention it deserves.

This is the creative apex of both Ronnie James Dio and Black Sabbath as a unit. Yup, this is even better than Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules, mostly because it doesn't suffer from "goofy filler song" syndrome that plagued Sabbath from Day One. And who knew Dio could be this fucking menacing? Just listen to I and After All.

There's not a weak moment on this album (Buried Alive is average, but far from bad), and this is pretty much the standard for heavy fucking metal. You have the obligatory speed metal number (TV Crimes, with one of Iommi's most killer riffs), great mid-tempo rockers (Time Machine and Master Of Insanity), and of course, soul crushing monsters (After All and I...never mind the fact that the little lick in the intro and break is Purple Haze, it's probably the best song Sabbath has ever done!). Oh sure, this is pretty much a "metal by numbers" album (not that it's bad...but it's incredibly straightforward and there are no random changes), but if you want a straight-up traditional metal up, this is as good as it gets.

Special notice has to be given to Dio's performance here. While he's never had a bad performance on an album, he's never been this amazing. He nails the necessary "evil" vibe that the lyrics are going for, especially in After All and I (which happen to be the best songs here). Just listen to the first verse of After All ("Wonderful day for a killing...IT'S KILLING ME!") or the last verse of I ("I'll smash your face in, BUT WITH A SMILE!" And to think, that predates American Psycho by 8 years!). Oh sure, Dio's solo albums to this point were amazing, but they were all uplifting (not that that's a bad thing), and suddenly he just breaks out and starts spitting acidic lyrics with a passion! A total must-own.

Oh yeah, this is also the only Sabbath album cover that actually makes sense AND doesn't suck!

After the less than favorable reception given to the Black Sabbath line-up fronted by the underrated Tony Martin, guitarist/bandleader Tony Iommi decided to bring back a few figures from his more prominent past and resurrect the line-up led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio on 1981’s "Mob Rules." The resulting album remains one of Sabbath’s most punishing and overlooked efforts to date.

Despite possessing the same line-up, this album’s music has very little in common with the material found on the first two installments of the Dio era. Songs such as "After All (The Dead)" and "Letters from Earth" provide powerful doom metal dirges while songs like "TV Crimes" and "Time Machine" show off faster riffs and energetic vocals and a ballad track manifests by means of the depressing "Too Late." Of course, there are also tracks like "Computer God" and "Master of Insanity" that feature elements of all three styles. The band’s chemistry is also worth noting with Dio in particular delivering one of his angriest vocal performances to date.

Just as Dio’s solo band had done a few years prior to the reunion, the album’s lyrics have also changed to meet the more morose tendencies of the music. While previous albums showed the singer being pre-occupied with the fantasy metaphors that have given him both fans and detractors, this album seems to completely throw them out the window in favor of more realistic themes. Nearly every song is packed with pessimistic themes relating to misuse of technology ("Computer God"), questions of the afterlife ("After All (The Dead)"), televangelists ("TV Crimes"), social commentary ("Letters from Earth," "Master of Insanity"), and a few personal musings in between. The song "I" provides the album’s only glimmer of hope with messages of individualism and self-empowerment. Of course, it also provides some of the silliest lines that Dio has ever come up with (“I’m a virgin/I’m a whore”)...

For the most part, the album’s flaws are relatively few and far between. Listeners that are expecting to hear "Heaven and Hell" part 2 will certainly be in for a shock when they hear the slower songs and equally crushing lyrics. Other than that, it’s a pretty safe to purchase to make.

All in all, it's a very underrated effort and perhaps the best Sabbath album since 1983’s "Born Again" (Yes, I'm one of those weird people that loves that album).

Pros:
1) Excellent band performance with crushing riffs and angry vocals
2) Intelligent lyrics with even darker themes
3) Great songwriting and song structures

Cons:
1) May be a little too slow for more mainstream Sabbath listeners

My Current Favorites:
"Computer God," "After All (the Dead)," "TV Crimes," "Letters from Earth," and "Master of Insanity"

Black Sabbath's 1992 album Dehumanizer marked the first reunion of the "Mob Rules" lineup of Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice (the second being 2007's tour under the alias Heaven and Hell). A classic version of the band, for sure. But with a decade apart, one wonders if there wasn't a bit of tension surrounding this reunion. It's been said that Iommi wanted to increase Sabbath's profile in the US, and in that aspect the reunion was a success. The album, however, is something of a mixed bag.

Dehumanizer fails to capture the vibe of the early Dio-Sabbath albums, "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules." The music and production values are more modern, as is to be expected. But maybe the band should have taken more time to become comfortable working with each other again (most evident in the fact that this is the only album they did before breaking up again). Dehumanizer isn't a weak album by any means. Fact is, it's mean as Hell on some tracks. But it's about half-and-half, and the other half kinda bores me. The standout tracks are classic Sabbath, and I'd say those are "Computer God," "After All(The Dead)," "TV Crimes," "Too Late," and "I." These five songs pretty much sum up what is best about Dio-Sabbath. Sadly, the other songs don't really measure up to the best songs. They're not bad, but they are somewhat filler. "Time Machine" appeared on the Wayne's World soundtrack, but they only played about ten seconds of the song during the movie. Iommi appeared onscreen briefly in Wayne's World 2, but I digress.

Regardless, Dehumanizer is another great album in the Sabbath discography and a must have for Dio-Sabbath fans. The musicianship is superb, but songwriting-wise they should have taken a bit more time to clean the rust off of this legendary heavy metal beast before venturing back into the studio.

Ronnie James Dio's brief stint back into Sabbath showed that the master was still able to deliver the goods with an age far beyond the average peak of a metal singer. While Dio has proven many times that he's almost invincible (he still delivers to this day - just check the new Heaven & Hell single "The Devil Cried" - but that's another review) "Dehumanizer" is definitely one of the best Black Sabbath albums and also one of the strongest in Dio's entire career.

This is, without a doubt, one of (if not) the best traditional heavy metal album(s) of 1992. We all know that the early 90s were a bad time for heavy metal since the uprising Grunge scene took the mainstream by force, but "Dehumanizer" is a gleaming gem amongst the masses of so called "alternative rock" artists.

Songs like the grand opener "Computer God" are incredibly dark and haunting while being witty in the lyrical department (the whole album features great poetry) and strong in the songwriting. "Dehumanizer" is also one of the heavier Black Sabbath albums, featuring crunchy doom-style riffs and a fierce vocal delivery by Dio.

"After All (The Dead) is probably the strongest song lyrical-wise, featuring awesome lines like:

"What do you say to the dead? Is there a place where it's burning?
It says in a book I once read; yes there's a chance of returning"

Brilliant. The metaphors and hidden meanings behind many of the songs featured on this album are rare gems of lyrical excellence. Definitely a highlight of this album.

Iommi's and Geezer's performances are once again stellar, wiping the floor with many of modern songwriters who simply don't even possess half of their songwriting qualities; Geezer's bass intro in "Master of Insanity" and Iommi's guitar solo at the end of "Computer God" being great examples of this. The overall guitar work drinks heavily from the doom-style, showing an even darker faceted side of Black Sabbath. Many songs are slow- to mid-paced, filled with a fairly large amount of bludgeoning and delightful riffs.

There are no bad songs to be found here, but the definitive highlights are "Computer God", "After All (The Dead)", "Master of Insanity" and "I".

If you enjoy classic heavy metal, which is quite a bit darker than usual, then this album is definitely recommended. Another shining moment in Dio's career.

Black Sabbath has probably been the most imitated band in history, which is a consequence of pioneering any genre of music, let alone one containing so many sub-genres. 1992 is a significant year for this subject as it was loaded with bands that were trying to recreate the spirit of this band during the Ozzy Osbourne years; many of them failing miserably in the process yet were embraced as amazing successes. However, even amongst better imitators such as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains in the grunge scene, all one need do is compare the students to the master and see how big the contrast is.

Dehumanizer is extravagant not in that it tries to paint as bleak of a picture as possible by focusing solely on the negative (which is what Alice in Chains’ Dirt did), but in that it deals with darkness with an intellectual and musical flair that is more fitting to metal and all that falls under its umbrella. For example, many grunge bands took to the more doom and gloom approach to religion that was established on Metallica’s rather forgettable MoP song “Leper Messiah”. By stark contrast, the lyrics to “TV Crimes” takes a quasi-satire approach to the issue of televangelism, and paints the less flattering picture of the TV bible-beater as a 2nd rate conman. Voltaire would definitely be proud of this one.

Throughout the entire listen we are treated to a variety of lyrical themes that are quite a departure from RJD’s earlier work with Sabbath. From the futuristic technological tyranny of “Computer God” to the egoistic anthem “I”, we get songs that are poetic, yet still catchy and easy to sing along with in the concert hall. We also get a taste of older Sabbath themes from back when Ozzy was still fronting the band such as the somber introspective song “Too Late”, and the social commentary included on such tracks as “Letters from Earth” and “Sins of the Father”.

The music contained on here is a rather brilliant combination of several eras of Sabbath. “After All (The Dead)” sounds a good deal like “Disturbing the Priest”, while “Buried Alive” has an introductory riff that reminds a good deal of “Zero the Hero”. “TV Crimes” and “Time Machine” could almost pass for faster tracks from the earlier RJD era of Sabbath, although the riffs do contain a darker tinge that keeps them in line with the subject of this album. “Master of Insanity” is definitely similar to some of the darker tracks from the Ozzy era, and contains one hell of an evil sounding bass intro.

Some of the music on here is a bit more original sounding, though still in line with the precedents set on previous efforts. “Too Late” starts off with a sad sounding acoustic guitar intro that sounds a tiny bit like “Odin’s Court” off the last album, only to kick into some rather evil sounding electric guitar riffs that seem more in line with the dark title track to “The Eternal Idol”. “I” has a very blues inspired intro that could pass for Sabbath’s debut album in 1970, though the rest of the song sounds similar to some of Dio’s later solo work.

If I had to pick the best standout track on this album it would have to be “Computer God”. Although I am a Sci-Fi junkie and am thus partial to the lyrics of this song (TV Crimes is a close second), the true power of this song for me comes from the riffs. Tony Iommi really outdid himself on this one, both in terms of the grand collection of great rhythm guitar lines and two rather amazing solos. Geezer Butler and Vinnie Appice also deserve credit for their efforts on this one, and of course kudos to Ronnie for the dramatic vocal performance.

In conclusion, this was and will forever be the greatest album of 1992, nothing else that was going on musically during this time period even hopes to come close to this. It is unfortunate that this reunion was short lived, but on the bright side both Dio and Sabbath would go on to have solid releases in 1994. This album is recommended highly to all fans of Sabbath and all fans of metal; it stood tall and told the masses in one gigantic shout what metal was all about, despite the fact that many of the ears that they were shouting at had been deafened by the noise of Nirvana’s Nevermind and a host of other bands vomiting out musical debris.

After a string of mediocre albums with Tony Martin, Sabbath regroup with former vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Dio, of course had a succesful solo career but like Sabbath, he had kind of lost his touch over time. I guess both Sabbath and Dio really needed something to get them back on track, and boy this was the album to do it.

The production is absolutely perfect, Sabbath hasn't sounded this heavy since Volume 4. Dio is back on the top of his game, putting his powerful voice to good use. Geezer is absolutely amazing as usual, there's good reason why this guy is one of the best bassists ever. Appice is solid, his drum sound is pretty bad ass on here. But it's Tony Iommi who really makes a come back, you would think after 20,000 albums Iommi would have ran out of riffs long ago. But this shit is so fresh and heavy you can't help but bow down and give the man his due. His lead work has improved alot too, playing some of his fastest and at the same time most melodic solos to date.

"Computer God" starts the album off quite nicely, a really heavy, vocal driven song. Awesome pre-chorus harmonics, nice breakdown about half way through blazing back in at even faster speed for an awesome solo. "After All(The Dead)" is a slower song with some menacing layered vocals from Dio, after a while it picks up and turns into a nice plodding head banger. Not the best Sabbath song in the world, but not bad either. "TV Crimes" is a fast paced rocker, borderline speed metal. A nice contrast to the slower songs before it, great song, this is what heavy metal is all about.

"Letters From Earth" sounds like something that could have been released on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or Vol. 4. A dark and brutally heavy song, nothing new or special but effective none the less. "Master of Insanity" comes up next, that riff that kicks in at about 40 seconds...Oh yeah, that's got Iommi wrote all over it. An insanely catchy chorus, man that thing will get stuck in your head for days. Awesome song. "Time Machine" is probably the most well known song from the album, it's more up-beat and VERY catchy. That intro riff sounds like something Manowar would write. A definite highlight. "Sins of the Father" is an awesome mid paced epic, Dio sounds exceptionally great at the beginning. Listen to that breakdown at about 2:20....Total fucking ownage, man that riff gets me every time "They call it mystery, but any fool can see..." one of the greatest moments in heavy metal history, right up there with "The world is full of kings and queens, who'll blind your eyes and steal your dreams..."

"Too Late" is really cool song, another epic. Starting off with just an accoustic guitar and Dio's voice, building up to extreme heaviness and ending in the same manner it started. "I" seems to be a favorite off the album, and there's no doubt as to why. A fast paced head banger, kick ass riffs and some more menacing vocals, an absolute crusher of a song. Some classic Dio lyrics also. "Buried Alive" ends the album in good fashion, fast and heavy. Probably the best solo on the album.

All in all this is a great "come back album" for Sabbath. It's not really anything new or innovative, and it's not the best album in the world. It's just some really kick ass heavy metal, simple as that.

Dehumanizer reminds me of a really, really fat man. When the fat guy is walking, running even, it’s immensely entertaining to watch because you get the sense of all this weight moving, swinging plunging and indeed rippling in ways God never intended. However, when said fat guy just sits there though, he just wallows and bores the hell out of whoever is watching because their ain’t nothing to do except to watch with morbid fascination and try to guess when it’ll collapse under it’s own weight. Dehumanizer is like that fat man friends, because it is an album possessing ridiculous density and weight (but not true doom) but a lack of drive and inspiration.

The word ‘ponderous’ was coined for albums like this. On every Sabbath album there are slow songs (“Black Sabbath”, “Heaven and Hell”), mid-tempo songs (“Into the Void”, “Fairies Wear Boots”), and songs that do some pretty brisk business (“The Mob Rules”, “Symptom of the Universe”), but here the album seems shrouded in a hazy fog in which a bunch of immovable objects reside with no hope of an unstoppable force to upset their mouldering and slow petrifaction. There are islands of hope in this sea of muck, including one track I consider a classic, but even amongst these few measure up to even mid-rangers from Sabbath’s early catalogue (both the Ozzy and Dio years, hell even the first two Martins) and so Dehumanizer is little more than a footnote, a good anecdote when telling the whole sordid Black Sabbath story to a newcomer to this massive coven.

Dehumanizer, along with the other two studio records, really suggests that Dio is really in charge of the band to a degree most wouldn’t guess. Consider that Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are much more Rainbow/Dio than Black Sabbath records, the HaH tracks particularly being of a make and model that wouldn’t be out of place on either a fictional Dio-fronted post-Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll Rainbow project, or a long lost pre-Holy Diver Dio record. Dehumanizer apes the Dio records that bookend it in the same way, the change in sound from Lock up the Wolves through Dehumanizer to Strange Highways not being particularly jarring.

The similarities of this trio of records are not hard to see, big wallowing riffs and Ronnie trying to focus on more ‘mature’ themes, as well as using the same (or very similar) vocal melodies on every damn song. Listen close to “After All (The Dead)” (or “Strange Highways” even) and you’ve got the idea, a thickening up of the song “Dream Evil” stretched over a whole album, Ronnie crooking his finger at you and snarling in a more snarly fashion than usual. One or two of these songs per album are good, an infusion of vein-coagulating red meat, but it gets to the point where you just lay there and let this roll off you back and mostly can’t remember a damn thing about what just happened.

However, there are some breaks in the mediocrity. “Master of Insanity” starts out like a Sound of Perseverance-era Death track, some very tricky-sounding rhythm-section fireworks before launching into a great stomping mid-tempo crunch with an unconventional and aurally pleasing chorus, Dio leaving the “to eleven!” growl behind for a few minutes. It’s great how the solo actually has some build-up too, restrained wankery if you will. There is a ballad (“Too Late”) that isn’t going to give “Falling Off the Edge of the World” a run for it’s money, but at least it gives your mind a break from the sludgy non-event “Time Machine” and the back half of “Sins of the Father”. “Computer God”, like the best tracks from Dio’s other ‘heavier-than-thou’ records, manages to make the wallowing work by making it only a small part of the song, slowly creaking open the door to a labyrinthine power drumfest and some really nice guitar work throughout that belies Tony’s age. The best track in my opinion is among the more conventional, “I” a great rebellious fist pumper that pounds the floor and gives one of the albums very few shout along chorus opportunities, and also the giggle-factor of Dio proclaiming “I’m a whore” in his most metallic call-to-arms style.

However these highlights (in the case of “Too Late”, minor breaks in the monotony) are tempered by the sheer suffocating boredom songs like “After All (The Dead)”, “Letters from Earth”, and “Time Machine” (twice!), songs that remind you that Dio, Butler (the G//Z/R project), Appice (WWIII with Tracy G), and Iommi were all in one of the most sludgy reactionary ‘more metal than metal’ phases of their careers, like one giant shared mid-life crisis from hell that further buried their collective reputations (arguably Dio’s uber-heavy records are an exception) under a surge of fat riffs and subterranean (when existent) grooves. So yeah, Dehumanizer has highlights (“I”, “TV Crimes”, “Master of Insanity”, and “Computer God”) but a few songs don’t make a record, they can only heroically attempt to salvage it, and this album is lurching , battery-drained proof of that.

Highlights: “I”, “Master of Insanity”, “Computer God”

One of the most underrated Black Sabbath albums happens to be one of the best. Dehumanizer welcomes back the vocal god Ronnie James Dio, and one of his best performances is put on this album. For the most part we have a very similar vocal production from Dio, his straight out power wielding vocals. However, there are some songs where pure evil reigns in his voice. What I mean is that on some songs Dio's voice is very low and with the powerful sounds of doom riffing makes it sound evil. Best song that shows this is After All, which is one of the best songs on this album.

For the most part, the riffs are typical doom metal oriented. Very slow and at times melodic, but there is so much more to it on this album. The way the crunch is worked, and the distortion puts an evil edge upon the songs, something Black Sabbath has been lacking for awhile. I agree with Ultra Boris, Black Sabbath got back to a familiar tone of the Ozzy years. They got back the dark and evil sound that made Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath. Dio even sounds a lot like Ozzy on the song Sins of the Father.

All the songs are pretty exceptional with awesome Iommi riffs. Dio's vocals shine high on this album, and can well be placed up with Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell. There are two types of songs, semi-fast paced and the slow doom metal tunes. Drumming, the bass, production, everything comes together on this album. If everything didn't come together, it would probably be a good album still because the song structures are solid and just really that good.

And with awesome songs and dark lyrics I wonder why this is an underrated album. Plus if you got the US version it comes with Time Machine the Wayne's World mix. If you love Black Sabbath then you probably own this album and already know what I am talking about. If you haven't heard this album...well shame on you, because it is a masterpiece of heavy metal.

This is an album that sounds very different from its predecessors, both the Tony Martin era and the previous RJD albums. This harkens back to a certain time when Tony Iommi wrote the heaviest riffs on earth, by far. The whole album sounds as heavy as the 70s, while coming up with subtle bits that recall the best of the band's 80s output, pretty much combining the best of all eras.

Most of the stuff has been summarised here - there tend to be two major categories of songs here. There are a few uptempo numbers like TV Crimes and Time Machine (there are two versions of this song, they seem to be not fundamentally different). Of these "TV Crimes" is the utter speed metal song, while Time Machine is more a midpaced song.

Then, the rest of the album is made up of slow-to-midpaced CRUSHERS. Stuff that fits the style of the old masters (of reality!), stuff like "Buried Alive", and the epic "Too Late", which is just the finest doom metal has to offer. Each riff is like being hit on the head by one or two warehouses full of hammers. This is excellent stuff here. More great songs include "Computer God", which is a bit faster but no less heavy. Yes, this is what this album is - really fucking heavy! The riffs just completely pummel you, and force you to to obey or die.

Highlights... probably the opener, "Computer God", which creaks and lurches its way into prominence before culminating with a classic solo that is all Iommi - early 80s style, with those bizarre note sequences that easily identify him. Also, "TV Crimes" is a fun basher that sounds like a Mob Rules song with extra crunch, and the intro riff set of "Letters from Earth" recalls all that is good about the early 70s - from Into the Void to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, while the first fast riff is total Eternal Idol.

Essential Sabbath - THIS is really the return to the Ozzy era, even though it's got Ronnie on vocals. This is on par with the 70s stuff as far as pure riff bludgeonry goes.

This album cannot be slagged in anyway. The component are; Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Vinny Appice, and Ronnie James Dio. This lineup in a sense, is perfect. Ronnie came back into the fold after jamming at a concert one night with Geezer, and so it just seemed like a good idea from a financial standpoint, since the maximum NON-DRAWING power of Tony Martin was leading Sabbath into onlivion. I respect Tony, but ANYONE could've been better than him. So here we are in 1992, and the Sabbs release their last true piece of art....Dehumanizer. The songs aren't the same phoned in riffs and cliche imagery that dominated Headless Cross -> Tyr era Sabbath, hell no. The band gives us an almost concept album on the future, with a production job that captures this theme immensely. This is the sound Sabbath is best in, and it shows clearly as their simply is no low point on the album. I've tried to find it, as I've looked to see which was my least favorite song, listened to it a few times and began to love it. My biggest suprise was Dio's lyrics, because he'd been on a creativity drought since Sacred Heart and here he's got totally new themes and a great new angry growl that would go on to rule his DIO follow-up "Strange Highways". The drumming is perfectly matched with the music, and Geezer's bass fills in "Computer God" make the song work and flow nicely. Words cannot describe the long term value of this album, I am still finding new things to appreciate in it. Sure addicts to "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules" might not like the production, but this album in my opinion is stronger than either of those, and its a shame both Ronnie and the band have forgotten this classic in their setlists.