We recently posted an item about how a growing number of major bands, including Metallica, Judas Priest and Gojira have chosen to release animated videos over performance-based clips. Now, Heaven and Hell (a.k.a. Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio) have joined the pack. The band's video for "The Bible Black," the first single from their new album The Devil You Know (out tomorrow) features cartoon imagery of a bored angel who discovers an evil book and plummets into Hell, where he meets the cartoon version of Sabbath and Dio. The clip was produced by Joseph A. Russo II and James A. Fino of 23d Films, Inc. and directed by Ben Ceccarelli. Click "more" to watch the video, stream the full album and hear our podcast interview with Dio and bassist Geezer Butler. Read more...

For a while now, many of our Facebook friends have been asking us to play Russian roulette with our iPod by putting the machine in random play mode, hitting play 20 or so times and documenting the results regardless of how embarrassing they might be. So, after ignoring such requests, we thought it might be fun to track down a bunch of metal musicians and put them to the random shuffle challenge. As it turns out, you can learn a lot about a person from their iPod.

We'll post a different Random Shuffle entry every day or so for however long it remains interesting, along with an armchair analysis of the rocker in question. And for each participant, we'll post the video for one of their selections, if it's available. We begin with Marta, keyboardist for Bleeding Through. Click more to see how her iPod dice fell and watch a video from her selections. Read more...

We generally take news from the British press with a grain -- if not a full container -- of salt. But here's a harmless nugget that's not gonna get anyone in trouble, even if it was completely fabricated. According to www.Metro.co.uk, rambunctious teenage African elephants at West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley, Worcestshire, England are being soothed by the sounds of hard rock and heavy metal. Read more...

Ready for more from our video interview with Heaven and Hell? Today, the band also known as Black Sabbath with Dio discuss their unsung 1992 album Dehumanizer (which was included in the recently released box set Black Sabbath The Rules of Hell) and touring in the best and worst of times. Read more...

VH1 caught up with Heaven and Hell to talk to the band about the Metal Masters tour and the recent box set, Black Sabbath The Rules of Hell, a collection of all of the albums singer Ronnie James Dio recorded with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler. Here's part one of three, in which the band members discusses their set list for Metal Masters and how, like a good wine, they've only improved with age. Read more...

The band name Hellsongs is more than a bit deceptive. So is the title of their debut album, Hyms in the Key of 666. But don't let that stop you. And don't be put off by the fact that there's not a single distorted guitar, screamed vocal or aggressive drum volley in any of their songs. Actually, these Swedes don't exactly have their own songs. They're a metal cover band, and they contort the music of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica, Twisted Sister and others into melancholy lounge music. It's actually pretty hard to tell what song they're singing until you hear the lyrics. And, amazingly, it works. Click "more" to stream Songs in the Key of 666. Read more...

"Sharon! They're r-r-r-r-ruining my f---ing song!"

The problem with most cover songs is when most bands play other groups' tunes, they do so almost note for note without adding anything creative or new. And when a band does decide to alter the equation, they're often too radical and wind up massacring the original. The Gauntlet has posted examples of both cases in a segment they've titled "Cover Wars." Click "more" to hear Amon Amarth and Bruce Dickinson play renditions of a song that would make Ozzy roll over in his grave -- if he was dead. Read more...

Dude, photo passes rock!

It seems unfair that the only way to take pictures from the front of the stage is to be a member of the media, and jump through hoops to get a little sticker that allows you to shoot the first three songs of a group's set. After all, the people who really want souvenir photos of their favorite bands are the fans, and they risk decapitation to sneak in camcorders and portable cameras, and even use their cell phone cams to shoot from wherever they're sitting. Sadly, their photos always end up looking like they were shot from a speeding train a mile away.

Fortunately for us, we've become part of that self-important media organization thingy, and now we can sometimes get our camera into shows. But we have to admit it's a little intimidating shooting with a dinky $150 Olympus digital zoom when everyone else in the photographer's pit is carrying around one or two of those $1,800, 40 pound Nikon SLRs that have about a dozen switches and buttons and run on diesel gas or propane. You have to have a stock broker's salary to afford the fuel.

Still, we think our photos speak for themselves. They're not New York Times quality, surely, but they're a whole lot better than anything we could have gotten from the 35th row.

Anyway, these were all taken Friday night in New York at the Heaven and Hell show. The band, which features ex-Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio and current Sabbath members Tony Iommi (guitar) and Geezer Butler (Bass), probably would have been called something like "Black Sabbath with Dio" had Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne not had such a tight grip over the trademark. Still, H&H could have been called Moose Excrement and they still would have kicked ass at their only U.S. appearance so far.

The show was taped for an upcoming DVD and featured all the classics, including "Neon Knights," "The Mob Rules," "Children of the Sea," "The Sign of the Southern Cross," "Voodoo" and "Lady Evil. Sabbath, err, Heaven and Hell also played "Lonely is the Word" and "The Devil Cried," two of the three new songs written for the compilation, Black Sabbath: The Dio Years.

We were so mesmerized by the performance we almost forgot to take pictures -- which is what we were there for in the first place.

Heaven and Hell will take a few weeks off, then they'll return on April 22 to start their proper U.S. tour, which begins in Phoenix, Arizona and ends in Holmdel, New Jersey on May 19.

It's a pretty good time for metal. This week, you'll find Shadows Fall's first new studio album in three years, as well as some premo emo metal from the drummer of Underoath and the screamers in Poison the Well. And let's not forget Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, which features three new songs from the only other Sabbath singer that matters.

Shadows Fall — Threads of Life (Atlantic) Okay, here's the question. Will Shadows Fall's ascension from the minor leagues to the majors make them pennant champions or will they be lost in the shuffle? It's too early to say, but they've sure delivered the album that could make them the next Lamb of God. Threads of Life is heavy, immediate and packed with the kind of infectious hooks that echo in your head, even as you sleep. Songs like "Redemption," "Stormwinds" and "The Great Colapse" are less derivative than those of most new American metal bands and they're just as endebted to thrashers like Testament and Exodus as they are to Scandinavians such as At the Gates and In Flames. Seek refuge from the heat in the comfort of the Shadows.
All out War — Assassins in the House of God (Victory) Hardcore metal that combines the minor-key guitar violence of Slayer with the pummeling screamscapes of Sick of it All. The band's fifth release should further help unite fans of hardcore and thrash metal without ever resorting to melodic, sing-songy choruses.

The Almost — Southern Weather (Victory) A more rock-based side project from Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie, The Almost combines jangly emo guitars, ripping riffs, strained vocal yowls and some pretty irresistible melodies that should appeal equally to fans of Fall Out Boy and Underoath.

American Head Charge — Can't Stop the Machine (Nitrus) The band's third album is a surging mix of metal, alt-rock and industrial music that proves there is still life after nu-metal. Tracks like "JSYK Wired all Wrong" and "Take What I've Taken" could help return the band to the public eye following a few years in limbo.

Black Sabbath — Black Sabbath: The Dio Years (Rhino) For years, Ozzy Osbourne has been the focal point of Black Sabbath. Now it's Ronnie James Dio's turn. In the ‘80s, Dio replaced Ozzy in the band after the Ozzman was fired, and played on three killer albums before drifting into the mist. Black Sabbath: The Dio Years compiles the best of the Dio Sabbath era and features three new songs that fit in well with the rest of their catalog. In case you're still not sold, have a flashcard. Devil horns now, please. http://www.rhino.com/flashcards/blacksabbath/

Poison the Well — Versions (Ferret) Screamo metal fans, this is the album you've been waiting four years for. Following a puzzling stint on Atlantic Records, Versions marks Poison the Well's return to an indie label and a resurrection of the fury and craft that defined them on their debut album, 2002's Tear From the Red. Now mosh and cry.

Static-X — Cannibal (Warner Bros.) This industrial metal band has flirted with various styles including nu-metal, technical metal and hard rock, but with their sixth album, Cannibal, the group has return to the short, sharp shocks and simple arrangements of their 1999 debut, Wisconsin Death Trip, and with crushing results.

Saxon — The Inner Sanctum (SPV/Steamhammer) One of the forefathers of the new wave of British heavy metal, Saxon simply refuse to go away. Their new album, The Inner Sanctum is packed with dramatic arrangements, galloping rhythms and fist-in-sky choruses that'll make you swear 1981 never ended.

If Black Sabbath and Corrosion of Conformity conceived a child it would be Fireball Ministry. Leaders of the "Sludge" Metal movement, their riffs are as groovy as a dirty pair of underwear.
Check out the video for "The Broken":