A Light in The Black   Ronnie James Dio Tribute
                                                                                             Label: Massacre Records
                                                                                             Release Date: 23rd June
Ronnie Jame Dio the Metal Icon and God Will always be remembered and never forgotten and here we have yet another  tribute by some bands that may not be so well known to some Metal heads. Is it any good ? Its not half bad and anything that honours the great man and keeps his spirit alive needs to be listened to and applauded. Dio (God in Italian)  died nearly five years ago, and this is a cool tribute.

Of course  their are so many classic Dio songs its hard to squeeze them all in and personally I can think off another twenty songs that could be added to this compilation.

Crystal Ball  cover "Sacred Heart" and open proceedings on CD1 and its a solid cover as is their version of "Southern Cross" on CD2 which I found to be superb and a highlight on this Compilation.

German Metallers Gloryful as nearly all of the bands featured  have two songs included on this opus , one on CD1 and then CD2   with their version of "Heavy Metal Will Never Die" one of Dios last songs he ever recorded and the Metal Iconic  Anthem "Holy Diver".

MessengeR cover "Kill The King"  and the classic "Don't Talk To Strangers" with full gusto the Metal God himself would be showing his legendary horns  in salute.

 

Gun Barrel are a band am not familiar with and will be checking them out  as their versions of "Evil Eyes" and "Voodoo" wake the dragon from his slumber and ignite the room.

The Order take on "I could of Been a Dreamer" and one of my favourite Dio Songs "The Last In Line"  and fully work their magic and deliver the goods. Metal Inquisitor play one song on "A Light in The Black"  the Album opener on "Sacred Heart"  "The King of Rock N Roll" a tribute to the King himself Ronnie James Dio.

I wasn't to sure about the two versions  by Circle of Silence  "One Night In The City" and "Time Machine" but after a few more spins yeah I got down with their versions as well.

Now "Neon Nights" has special significance to this reviewer I first heard this song when I was eleven years old and became hooked and find it difficult to hear this song sung by anyone else but Dio, and Burden of Griefs version is well, lets say full of expletives from me, not impressed at all.

In fact have had to forward it a total desecration of a classic song! "Stand Up And Shout"  and "Hungry For Heaven" by Love.Might.Kill aren't to strong and didn't really work for me either.

Rebellion get things back on track with "I" and on CD2 with "Kill The King" .

Wizard complete this work with their take on "Caught in The Middle" its  impressive as is the opening track by Iron Fate with "A Light in The Back"  on CD2. So if any thing this Album is a great listen and hopefully if like me you were unfamiliar with some of the bands you will be checking out their original work

 

Final words I will leave to  Jan Yrlund (Darkgrove.net), who stated about the stunning artwork:
“I was thrilled to create the artwork, as DIO is one of my all-time favourite bands and I knew this tribute would be really cool! So I decided to go for an old school type of hand-painted look, like the classic Dio covers, but I still wanted to keep it original.
You‘ll find many hints and details that refer to well-known DIO themes:
The mountain has two peaks as if they were devil‘s horns, and of course the DIO mascot Murray is featured too, merging from the fire. The people are marching to him like it was a judgement day. It was a great pleasure to work on this cover!”
 

Review Seb Di Gatto  Score: 8.5/10
 

TRACKLISTING:
CD 1
1. Crystal Ball - Sacred Heart
2. MessengeR - Kill The King
3. Gun Barrel - Evil Eyes
4. Gloryful - Heavy Metal Will Never Die
5. The Order - I Could Have Been A Dreamer
6. Metal Inquisitor - King Of Rock ‘N‘ Roll
7. Circle Of Silence - One Night In The City
8. Burden Of Grief - Neon Nights
9. Love.Might.Kill - Stand Up And Shout
10. Rebellion - I
CD 2                                                                                         Massacre Records
1. Iron Fate - Light In The Black
2. MessengeR - Don‘t Talk To Strangers
3. Crystal Ball - The Sign Of The Southern Cross
4. Love.Might.Kill - Hungry For Heaven
5. The Order - The Last In Line
6. Gun Barrel - Voodoo
7. Circle Of Silence - Time Machine
8. Rebellion - Kill The King
9. Gloryful - Holy Diver
10. Wizard - Caught In The Middle