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Black Sabbath focused on heavy metal with the notion that horror music could be as popular as horror movies. After writing this entry, I began digging into Ritchie Blackmore's history and learned how he played with 'Screaming Lord Such' who pre-dated Sabbath and Alice Cooper with horror-themed performances. Black Sabbath's 'Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots' is perhaps at least a nod to Lord Such, who's performance of 'Jack the Ripper' is priceless, looking like Lon Chaney in London after Midnight.
I've always listened to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio's solo albums, but I never really went beyond Dio's first solo album, Holy Diver, apart from a few singles, along with noting Vivian Campbell's absolutely vicious playing at 19 years old.
In 1980, Dio joined Black Sabbath to make a hugely successful album called 'Heaven and Hell'.
I'm not interested in debating over whether Heaven and Hell was truly Black Sabbath or should have been another band. He's not Ozzy, he's Ronnie.
With a strict Catholic upbringing and being unusually short at 5'4", Ronnie James Dio had enough bugs up his ass plus the raw talent to become the perfect artist to scare the absolute shit out of everyone.
In 2009, at the age of 65, Dio rejoined Sabbath including guitarist and founder, Tony Iommi, drummer Vinny Appice and bass guitarist, Geezer Butler for a live performance of Heaven and Hell. The show was recorded a year before he died of stomach cancer.
From this concert, I found 'Children of the Sea' on YouTube, and became somewhat obsessed.
What strikes me is how his voice, performance and physicality ages like a fine wine, perfectly suited for this doom and horror genre. Dio is so theatrical anyway, but those idiosyncratic gestures that might have seemed somewhat goofy in his prime just lend to his character, like he's an old wizard belting out an incantation. Cast in dramatic lighting, wind and fog, Dio delivers the cryptic imagery with such conviction, it compels the imagination.
The ensemble chemistry is complete with Iommi's stoic presence as he walks forward to solo, and Vinny's ultimate thunderous and explosive drum flair. It's such a dramatic song, and if you pay attention and isolate the bassline and follow the great variety in rhythm and structure, it's truly an epic song, performed with such feeling from all.
This magnificent performance by Ronnie James Dio at the end of his life appeals to me in the same way as when Christopher Lee made his late, great return to film in his early 80s as the evil wizard, Saruman in Lord of the Rings, and as Sith lord, Count Dooku in the new installments of Star Wars.
Lee died at the age of 93 in 2015. I never cared for Hammer Film's version of Dracula which struck me as disgusting and ridiculous compared to the classic Bela Lugosi version, but upon seeing Lee late in life in these roles, his age, dramatic performance and particularly his voice made for an excellent casting choice. I'd consider taking another look at the Dracula films just to see his performance through another perspective. The Children of the Sea live video made me dig back into Dio's career as well and appreciate him as a singer, songwriter and performer. Ironically, the late 50s and 60s horror films very much influenced the genre, perhaps starting with Screaming Lord Such, that infused Black Sabbath, Ritchie Blackmore, Alice Cooper, Kiss and others.
Going through Dio's time with Elf, Rainbow, Sabbath and as a solo artist, I found two repeating themes: rainbows and the death of the sun - of course, theoretically, a massive collapsing star creates a black hole - an ultimate symbol of both doom and mystery, often thought to be associated with time travel. It's interesting to consider how those themes were shared across bands, including songs like Sabbath's 'Hole in the Sky' or beyond to other bands like Pink Floyd's iconic prism.
Even if you're not a fan of metal or find the music disturbing or worry that it's somehow sacrilegious, the singing and performance is incredibly intense. Try to think of it as a horror musical, like Dracula 2010.
Here's my Dio playlist which begins with Children of the Sea.
After some further reading, I suspect much of Dio's writing was inspired by his scorn for Ritchie Blackmore, and I can see how his time with Rainbow influenced his sound as a solo artist.
Here are interviews with band members about the occult - overall, the conclusion is that everyone rebelled against organized religion, but were not seeking out devil worship...but dabbled.
Guitarist, Tony Iommi
https://youtu.be/1QEd8CqAmGs
Drummer, Bill Ward
Bassist, Geezer Butler
Vocalist, Ozzy Osbourne
Vocalist Ronnie James Dio
