Dehumanizer

Dehumanizer is a fulfilling work on which, with the powerful lineup of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice, Black Sabbath powerfully returned to a heavy, uneasy sound. A record of high notoriety on which Dio returned after truly more than ten years. Iommi’s riffs press down low and as heavily as possible, and Dio’s singing resounds both its mythic dignity and deep human anger powerfully at once. From the powerful opener “Computer God” and the speeding popular “TV Crimes” to a cut like “After All (The Dead),” every song is engaging, while cuts like “Time Machine” and “Master of Insanity” convey the work’s fullness. Dio’s powerful, narrative singing is powerfully in sharp form throughout. A record on which the songs, rather than flashy decoration, let you hear carefully through a slow, heavy stride and tense tension. It splendidly re-presents the sure weight of the Dio period with the hard, powerful sound of the 1990s. A dark, powerful, engaging masterpiece — a record where the grit of Dio’s return shines.