Now I know why its called HEAVY metal (Dehumanizer - Black Sabbath)

Member Name: Hudson

Product:	Dehumanizer - Black Sabbath
Date:	08/01/01 (401 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Heavy

Disadvantages: Not as melodic as previous albums

Although Sabbath fans were hoping for an reunion of the 70's line-up with Ozzy they had to settle for a the Mark II reunion in 1992 for the Dehumanizer album and subsequent world tour. on this album Ronnie James Dio put his own band (Dio) on ice and returned on vocals. He insisted that Vinny Appice, who was the drummer in Dio must return to play with Sabbath and so Cozy Powell was given his marching orders. Original bassist Geezer Butler also came back to play as well and as always Tony Iommi led the band on guitars. Its a shame the line up collapsed after Dio refused to support Ozzy on his "last" two shows in Costa Mesa. For these gigs Judas Priest's Rob Halford sang instead.
Dehumanizer is probably Sabbath's heaviest album although it can be hard to compare different era's work. However it certainly has a more thrash metal sound to it much like what Metallica were doing at the same time on "The Black Album". The style of the music has been changed dramatically form the usual melodic hard rock of previous albums with outstanding riffs but more emphasis being placed on the power and volume of the music. A few songs have well played guitar parts where heavy powerchords are mixed with soft acoustic bits which is a welcome addition too. The lyrical style is also changed from what you would expect from Dio. Not the usual sorcery orientated words that were included in Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules albums of the early 80's but more down to earth vocals.

The album begins with a 6 minute long song called Computer God. It deals with the issue of humanity becoming more and more reliant on computers and technology to run businesses and do work, a Terminator 2 esque song. It isn't on of the albums best but it is kept interesting by a change of tempo about 3 minutes into the song. The second song, After All (The Dead) discusses the after life and heaven and hell. It is one of my favourites of the album. Its very slow and he
avy with a great harmonic chorus.
TV Crimes was the single from this album which became Sabbath best selling song since 1978's Never Say Die. Not a fantastic song but some great lyrics from Dio prevent it form being terrible. The lyrics talk about TV preachers who take as much money form the people as possible.
Letters From Earth is the 4th song and like TV Crimes it isn't anything great, its very similar to it too. Its lyrics are about the letters that Black Sabbath recieve form fans who are from all walks of life. Its shows how they understand the problems of the people and also show that they are not a bunch of devil worshipping nutters as many ignorant people think they are.
Master of Insanity is probably my favourite song off the Dehumanizer album. Its got a great riff which reminds you of the golden days when Ozzy was in the band. Time Machine is another great song which was featured on Wayne's World.
The nearest there is to a ballad on Dehumanizer is the 8th song, Too Late. It will be familiar to Dio since its very like some of his softer songs such as "As Long as its Not ABout Love" or "The Last in Line". Its about a guy who makes a pact with the devil to get anything he wants but is cursed for life.

I've heard a lot of comments of Dehumanizer which range from "dire" to "ultra heavy" but the best way to describe it would be different. Its not what typical Sabbath fans will expect and maybe not what Sabbath fans may like but if your into Metallica or the new generation of heavy metal bands then I recommend Dehumanizer to you, for the rest of you I say try before you buy. Its a good album but certainly not up there with the best.

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