SABBATH MATES LOOK TO RECORD NEW HEAVEN AND HELL IN 2008

Vinny Appice confirms Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi will get Heaven and Hell in the studio in 2008

Heaven and Hell, which is made up of Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, along with former members Vinny Appice and lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio, will look to head back into the studio to record the band’s first album under the name Heaven and Hell. The four members of Heaven and Hell recorded and toured together as Black Sabbath from 1980-1982 and again from 1991-1992 but after Black Sabbath’s induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame with Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward as the original lineup, they decided to tour with the name Heaven and Hell, which was also the title of their 1980 album together.

We caught up with Drummer Vinny Appice at Guitar Center’s 2008 Drum Off tp get his thoughts on what’s looking like a very busy year.

“We’re doing another Heaven and Hell, we’re going to do a CD album, so we’re going to start writing in May and I also have a little thing going on with my original band Derringer, the first band I played with in 1976. We’re doing a little reunion tour. We got all these great offers and we thought we’d do it. So, it’ll be a busy year.”

Vinny even went on to say that the initial song writing with Heaven and Hell is going smooth as well.

“It was cool. Actually it’s been over a year now. I went over there, to England in November and we got together and did three songs and it was great. After like 5 minutes it was like nothing, we were never apart after that, you know. It just went smooth as silk.”

So what’s it like playing with the legendary guitarist Tony Iommi on one side and the legendary bassist Geezer Butler on the other side?

“Those guys are like, I mean it doesn’t get much heavier than playing with Tony and Geezer. Tony on this side and Geezer on this side, it’s just a wall of sound. And then you got Dio, who manages to sing over all that, it’s just totally incredible. I’m in heaven…and hell.”

At the end of 2007, Heaven and Hell released ‘Live From Radio City Music Hall’ which captures the band bashing its way through some of the Dio era’s best including “Mob Rules,” “Die Young,” “Neon Knights,” “Children Of The Sea” and an epic 15-minute-plus version of “Heaven And Hell.” The quartet also performed a pair of new songs—the hit single “The Devil Cried” and “Shadow Of The Wind.” Both songs debuted earlier this year on Black Sabbath: The Dio Years (Rhino/Warner Bros. Records), the first comprehensive introduction to the Dio era’s legacy. The Radio City Music Hall DVD also includes a tour documentary and other bonus footage. Although no released date has been scheduled, hopefully the band will have the new album done by the end of 2008, with another round of touring soon to follow.