Week 20: Dio - Egypt (The Chains Are On)

The artist: Ronnie James Dio was an icon in both heavy metal and hard rock. Ronnie was in several bands before forming Elf which is where he put his foot in the world of rock and roll. After Elf disbanded, Ritchie Blackmore approached Dio to be the vocalist for his new band Rainbow. Dio left Rainbow after musical differences with Ritchie Blackmore. Dio disagreed with the wind of changes and found himself replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. His time with Black Sabbath in the 80s was short but sweet with Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules. Dio's next musical direction was to form a band of his own with Vinny Appice and release Holy Diver which the title track, Stand Up and Shout and Rainbow in the Dark have become metal anthems.

Today marks the day Ronnie left us all after a long battle with stomach cancer. 2010 was a bleak year for heavy metal with losses such as Dio and Peter Steele from Type O Negative. To pay a tribute to the holy diver and the man who popularized the devil's horns in rock music, here is metal song of the week for Ronnie James Dio.

The album: The Last in Line is the follow-up to the classic Holy Diver. Although The Last in Line doesn't quite a hold a candle to Holy Diver, it's still a great album with yet more classic Dio songs such as We Rock, The Last in Line, I Speed at Night and the epic album closer Egypt (The Chains Are On) that shouldn't be underestimated.

The song: Egypt (The Chains Are On) addresses the exploitation of the people of ancient Egypt. The song starts off with an oriental intro which perfectly fits with a song about Egypt. The riffs are slow in this epic number but not everything can be rushed with fast riffs. This is one of the slower songs from The Last in Line and it's a song that finds the right tempo. One of the highlights from this song has to be the following lyrical section with "You've seen them walking on the water / You've seen flying through the sky / They were frightening in the darkness / They had rainbows in their eyes" This is where Dio truly shows the beauty of his vocal talent as well as great songwriting. The last line with "They had rainbows in their eyes" is hard to avoid relating it to Rainbow and be seen as a nod to the band. The solo following this section has an Egyptian feel to it which is why the slow tempo of the song is highly appropriate.

Egypt (The Chains Are On) is one of the most epic works by Ronnie James Dio and although he passed away a year ago, this is legacy he left us with and we have to be grateful for what he has done in the realm of heavy metal.

Week 1: Black Sabbath - Master of Insanity

The artist: Anyone with the slightest knowledge of metal should know who Black Sabbath are right off the bat. Even a genuine rock fan will have a clue as to who Black Sabbath are. We may be more focused on lesser known songs but even the biggest bands have underrated songs. In addition to that, what better way to start things off than to begin with the band who are often considered the pioneers of heavy metal.

The album: Dehumanizer is the 1992 album that Black Sabbath recorded when Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice rejoined the band for a reunion. This was the first Black Sabbath studio album with Ronnie James Dio on vocals since Mob Rules. While Black Sabbath's post-Mob Rules albums don't shine as well as the classics, there are still some gems from their later works and this is where Dehumanizer comes in despite being the most recognisable out of the later Sabbath albums.

The song: As stated before, Black Sabbath do have some gems from the later albums and Master of Insanity easily applies to that. The track name sounds similar to the album title Master of Reality and could be seen as a nod to that masterpiece. The very beginning is rather strange but the song picks up shortly once Geezer takes off with his bass. Of course, you have to give credit to the riff considering it's Tony Iommi, the man who played Children of the Grave, Symptoms of the Universe, Hole in the Sky and many other fantastic riffs that have inspired hundreds of thousands of musicians. You can also rely on Dio to offer a great voice for the song, especially the catchy chorus. Overall, it's a great song and definitely one of the highlights from Dehumanizer.