I promised you a write up on Ronnie James Dio, the God of Metal, and then did not deliver. There will be no excuses; there can be none, because Dio does not brook such nonsense. He never did and even in his death he never will. Because Dio was that fantastic anomaly that is so completely rare in our post-modern world: an artist beyond pretension and beyond irony, the two prevailing trends that dominate the industries these days. Here was a man who sung about his love for dragons, rainbows and unicorns without a hint of self-awareness or fear; good lord, here was a man who simply did not care at all about the popular opinion on his music or the sales that reflected these trends.

Not that this is what made Dio important. If being obstinate and determined were the only outstanding qualities offered by Dio, he would not be remembered; after all, these are qualities often possessed by the prima donnas that never get beyond their first pieces of work because they fail to distinguish between “selling out” and “improving”. What he had beyond all of this was about the most fantastic voice in the history of metal and the most consistently rocking bands in history behind him. No, really, if you doubt that Dio is the absolute king of metal, if you’re convinced that your nu-metal tripe is where “it is at,” then you need some educatin’, son. And where better to start than with Dio’s “Sacred Heart,” right before he began to move towards a very heavy sort of phase that persisted through his work during the 90s? In “Sacred Heart” the man and his band is at the absolute top of their game, mixing some fantastically over-the-top music (blaring synths, bizarre use of sound effects, guitars that do not care very much about their poor amps or the guitarists’ fingers, etc etc for all of these overwrought descriptions; fill them in yourself after you’ve given this album a listen!). This is where the band that is Dio peaks!

Not that Dio was his only effort; though my experience with Rainbow is limited, the song “Man on the Silver Mountain” is an undisputed classic. Their is no argument that you can put forward to dispute this! Likewise, I have given very little time over to his stint with Black Sabbath, which…honestly, this makes me less than qualified to write up on Dio. I have a very limited range of knowledge in regards to his work beyond his most famous group and even then, I have limited myself to the earlier periods (the “blacker” metal is not for me, I must say). What I do know is that the Dio I have heard is absolutely quintessential, not only to your metal education, but to your education as a cultural human being. Forget what all of the nay-sayers might suggest; the man adopted the moniker “god” for a reason!

There is only one real way to pay him tribute now, and you must know what it is: listen to this man. No amount of stupid little memorials or reflections can do him any justice. All that can truly summarize the man is to experience him, and how better than now than through his work, his legacy? Or you might try to play the classic NES game Holy Diver (made in his image), but prolonged exposure to that obstacle course could very well result in you joining Dio beyond this world.