PAUL GILBERT has turned DIO's Holy Diver into an instrumental

02 February 2023

Shred king Paul Gilbert has announced The Dio Album, an instrumental tribute to the music of the late Ronnie James Dio.

He's also released the first song from the album, an epic version of the title track of Dio's 1983 classic Holy Diver album.

To be completely frank, we were a little discombobulated by the results. There's no doubt that Gilbert knows his fleet-fingered way around the neck of a guitar, and his treatment is pretty faithful to the original arrangement. But at the point where Dio's vocal's would normally come in, and Gilbert's guitar carries the vocal melody instead, it's a bit... weird. Weird good, but initially a bit freaky.

Thankfully, Gilbert's an extremely lyrical player, so by the time the song has ended the listener is used to what's happening and it all kinda makes more sense, but those first few seconds may definitely confuse the unwary.

Other songs on the album include songs by RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH, with RACER X and Mr BIG man Gilbert using the same technique, replicating those instantly familiar vocal melodies via the magic of well-wrangled guitar.

The Dio Album is released on April 7 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group.