Black Sabbath Online has issued the following report from Joe Siegler:

"I've avoided this story for two days now due to my inability to verify the information in it, but now that it is starting to make it's way around music news sites, I thought I should say something.

A couple of days ago, the image below first appeared on my site's forums, posted there by a fan who found it on Flickr. Was apparently posted by a guy from Warner. Anyway, I immediately contacted management for Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and my contact at Rhino.

I was told that the image was merely "one of the candidates" for the cover art to the new Heaven & Hell album. They also told me that the final decision on what is the cover art has yet to be made. I was told, "You'll have an official cover art image as soon as it's decided upon".

So what is this image then? It very well may be the real cover art, it might not be. Assuming they're telling the truth, and not blowing smoke to divert attention from a leak, then this is just one of an unknown number of possibilities.

Additionally, I was told late last week that the cover art was likely to be released on Tuesday, March 3rd, which didn't happen. We shall see soon enough.

My comments on the art... If it is real, I'm not sure I like the usage of the band member names on the front like that. They've never been there before on a Black Sabbath record. Someone on my forums pointed out that the Live At Radio City release had their names on it too, but given that was cover art which did not have "traditional artwork" and also was the first release under the moniker "Heaven & Hell", I didn't much mind that. I consider compilations and live albums to be "second citizen" releases anyway. They're not full albums, which is what this is, so I think it deserves more traditional cover art (in other words, lose the horizontal banner)."

As previously reported, HEAVEN AND HELL - featuring BLACK SABBATH legends Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice - will preview their new album, The Devil You Know, on the US nationally syndicated radio show Rockline, with host Bob Coburn at 8:30 PM (PT) / 11:30 PM (ET) on April 29th - an encore of the show will air on May 4th. For a station near you and for information regarding how to log onto the internet for the broadcast go to RocklineRadio.com.

Heaven And Hell's highly anticipated album, The Devil You Know, will be available from Rhino on April 28.

"Everyone had so much fun playing together that we didn't want it to end," says the group. "We started writing together and the songs started flowing like we never stopped. We wound up writing and recording an album that stands up to anything we've ever done. We're really proud of the music and excited for people to hear it."

The dark tone heard on The Devil You Know is clear from several of the album's song titles, such as 'Bible Black', 'Rock & Roll Angel', 'Breaking Into Heaven', 'Atom & Evil' and 'Eating The Cannibals'.

The seeds of the new album were planted in 2006, when Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice returned to the studio to record a trio of new songs for Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, a recent compilation of essential tracks taken from the quartet's four albums together. Soon after, the band launched a run of sold-out shows around the world, electrifying audiences with its malevolent metal fury.