Dio
Inferno: Last In Live
Mayhem
“Dio’s Inferno” oooh, scary! Seeing the resurgence of Heavy Metal, Ronnie James Dio, the “Elfmeister,” has seen fit to release this double-live album from the 1996-97 Angry Machines tour featuring Mötörhead and My Dying Bride. The way I looked at, I paid twenty-five bucks to see Mötörhead and could opt out of staying later…
But that’s not very nice! Ronnie James Dio puts on a hell of a show and is dedicated to giving his legions of drooling fans (“Dio! Dio!”) double their money’s worth, both in concert and on this album. The line up is Dio on vox, ego, and platform shoes, Vinny Appice on drums, Tracy G (Kenny’s brother?) on guitar, Larry Dennison on bass, and Scott Warren on keyboards. No fire-breathing dragons on this tour, but the music should be enough to satisfy even the most braindead metalhead. The songs are spread out over both CDs such that each is well-balanced with hits from Dio’s 20+ year career in metal. Included are “Jesus, Mary & the Holy Ghost,” “Holy Diver,” “Hunter of the Heart,” and “Heaven and Hell” on disk one. Disk two starts off with the metal blues “Mistreated,” then slams into “Last In Line,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” “The Mob Rules,” “The Man in the Silver Mountain,” and “We Rock.” Thus demonstrating that Dio will play the songs the fans demand.
The album is very well-recorded, probably a result of painstaking remixing efforts by Dio to get everything perfect. I think Dio fans will appreciate his work and will really enjoy this album. I cranked it more than a few times. Mayhem Records, 285 W. Broadway, Suite 300, New York, NY 10013;
