May 16th marked the secondary anniversary of the passing of legendary singer RONNIE JAMES DIO (BLACK SABBATH, DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, RAINBOW, ELF) who lost his battle with stomach cancer at the age of 67.

Metal Shock Finland recently spoke with WOLF frontman Niklas Niklas Stålvind about his opinion and thoughts on Dio and if he has any particular memories of him. His answer can be read below:

Niklas Niklas Stålvind: “I remember Bang Your Head festival in Germany 2007. Wolf played there and Heaven And Hell was headlining. Perfect hot summer day with lots of sunshine and beer. For some reason the rain was pouring down, even on stage, only when Wolf played, then the sun shone again. (Very funny actually!) While we were having lots of German beer, TONY IOMMY walked by us and I remember thinking, “there goes that dude that invented heavy metal while I sit here and drink beer. Cool!” In short: That day was perfect. But that night was magic.

When Heaven And Hell played it was just pure magic. I remember it so well. And I’m not just saying that to pay tribute to Dio. It really was a magic gig. It blew everything away. It was almost the same feeling I had when I saw my first IRON MAIDEN show when I was thirteen years old. Nothing can ever top that (remember, I was thirteen and it was my first show), but this came pretty close! And one man really stood out. One voice really stood out. It sounded so good! I have never heard a voice sounding so good live before in my entire life. I remember we looked at each other and just pointed at him with eyes wide open (like thirteen year olds at our first concert) and his stage presence, His showmanship - So perfect, so professional and so honest. Straight from the heart and straight to the heart. Ronnie James Dio’s voice was just flawless the entire show.

The next day we travelled back to Sweden and we were still blown away by the Heaven And Hell show. In the car we played the two Black Sabbath studio albums with Dio on vocals. Even the records didn’t come close to the sound of last night’s amazing vocals. I don’t know any other metal singer that can pull that off.

> Respect! Thank you, Ronnie. R.I.P.”