Dio's 2004 effort Master Of The Moon has the well-known driving riffs, melodic vocal lines, deep-rooted atmospheres, tight rhythm section and metaphorical lyrics that has delighted fans for more than 20 years. An additional gloomy and ultra groovy feeling has been added so that this sounds like classic
Dio and yet it also has that special element that makes it sound exciting and as an album with its own character.
I think that the splendid and extremely heavy production plays an important part in this whole thing; the rhythm section is extremely central in these songs and this main foundation is given an unbreakable sound.
To get things warmed up
One More For The Road hits with hard impact, a great energized rocker that makes it hard to remain calm in your chair.
Master Of The Moon is something I dare call a new
Dio classic, the slow beginning that gets kicked right into space by a monster rhythm guitar effort sounds phenomenal, and the chorus line is no less than one of his best ever, amazingly catchy.
The End Of The World is a song that pounds hard but suffers from a standard refrain that has a hard time in holding the "not that exciting" structure together, not a bad track though.
That we are dealing with a very groovy album gets very clear with the moody
Shivers that both rips and scares at the same time. The shredding guitar solo is a clear highlight and I just can't believe how strong and varied
Dio's voice is, he has never sounded better.
The Man Who Would Be King starts out with soft piano tunes before a slow and downright tight tempo is pursued. I find this a quite atypical
Dio track, experimenting with some atmospheric keys, but it succeeds fairly well eventhough it ends a bit unfinished.
With the
The Eyes we are entering one of this bands most sombre creations, the ultra tight drums have an amazing force and vigour to them, nicely supported by deep bass fills. The main riff is slightly hypnotic and the vocal parts are immensely cool, overall this mystic song is a real treat.
Living The Lie is an up-tempo track with a direct and rather simple path, very tightly held together.
Things gets slowed down with the hard rocking
I Am, being a bit reliant on a quite stationary chorus but in some strange way it ends up being a fairly good track with a smooth and solid flow.
Death By Love has that driving and nerve-filled vibe that has become an important
Dio trademark, the memorable guitar riff fits right in and the bass approach is technical and creates an unbelievable solid fundament in collaboration with Simon's compact drumming. This special drum and bass performance is one of the albums biggest strengths, I have seldom heard anything this tight.
At the end of the road we find
In Dreams, a down to earth track that never really gets to impress. Still it gains lots of power from a slow but forceful guitar riff and the vivid vocals sounds fantastic.
Craig Goldy's guitar work has a fine balance and a cool tight drive, being unsophisticated in a very precise and hard-hitting manner; I would nevertheless have enjoyed some more spectacular breaks and soloing.
The lyrics deal with essential
Dio themes as religious questions, spiritualism and individuals caught in difficult situations; they are well written but also a bit weird from time to time, not exactly breaking new ground
Five fantastic songs and a few anonymous elements makes this fall into the better half of
Dio's releases, a great rock solid album that comes with a guarantee to shake the ground around your speakers.
Favourite songs:
Master Of The Moon,
The Eyes,
Shivers,
One More For The Road and
Death By Love.
Written by
Tommy Monday, October 25, 2004
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