BLACK SABBATH Online has issued the following message from Mike Exeter, the fellow who engineered and mixed the new RONNIE JAMES DIO fronted BLACK SABBATH track, 'The Devil Cried' (note: Exeter also worked on Fused and The 1996 DEP Sessions - both featuring TONY IOMMI and GLENN HUGHES):

"Hi All,

Just wanted to dispel a couple of things before too much conjecture happens. I recorded and mixed the new stuff with Tony and the guys.

This song was conceived during last summer during writing sessions where Tony came up with riffs and I would build backing tracks around his guitar. We worked song arrangements into many 'demos' and a couple of these ideas triggered interest from Ronnie. He came over for the Tenacious D movie premiere and along with continuing work on Shadow Of The Wind (which had been pretty much written back in March) he suggested working on 'Song 3'. During the few days he was around Ronnie, Tony and I worked the song into it's current form and Ronnie went away with a 'completed' demo to write his lyrics. We also started on the Fast Song and had that pretty much nailed in the same writing session.

These are definitely not left over tracks from other projects.

Ronnie's voice is in excellent form and he is a joy to work with :-)

Geezer was definitely very happy with the final outcome - he played some great stuff. The mixes are very dense, but the guys all love them and there was a lot of involvement from everyone to ensure that they were all happy.

It's a very difficult thing to create a piece of work and put it out to be judged by some very passionate and loyal fans, but that's what happens every time new music is created. Everyone is going to have a different perspective on it, but the important thing is that the people who created it went through mental torture at times to do their best to make it sound as they wanted and finally it has to be sent out to be heard!

It's fantastic to hear everyones' feelings over the last couple of days, I regard positive and negative as a way of improving what I do. I'm looking forward to seeing the band work live again cos if what they sounded like together in the studio is anything to go by - they're gonne be brilliant.

All the best, Mike."

As previously reported, 'The Devil Cried' can currently be heard at BraveWords.com, under the "Brave Tunes" heading.

The single will be released in digital form to the public via all digital retailers on Tuesday, March 13th. The track is available on the forthcoming Black Sabbath: The DIO Years compilation CD, due out on April 3rd via Rhino.

Black Sabbath: The Dio Years tracklisting is as follows: 'Neon Knights', 'Lady Evil', 'Heaven And Hell', 'Die Young', 'Lonely Is The Word', 'The Mob Rules', 'Turn Up The Night', 'Voodoo', 'Falling Off The Edge Of The World', 'After All (The Dead)', 'TV Crimes', 'I', 'Children Of The Sea' - Live, 'The Devil Cried' *, 'Shadow Of The Wind' *, 'Ear In The Wall' *.

(* newly recorded track).

Arranged chronologically, the compilation spotlights Dio's time with Black Sabbath and draws heavily from the lineup's 1980 debut and 1981 follow-up, Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules respectively. Recognized as back-to-back metal classics, the albums feature such signature songs as the title tracks, 'Neon Knights', 'Die Young', 'Turn Up The Night' and 'Voodoo'. The Dio Years also features 'After All (The Dead)', 'TV Crimes' and 'I' from the singer's brief reunion with Sabbath for the Dehumanizer album and tour.

(Thanks Joe Siegler)