From the Ronnie James Dio era of Black Sabbath, a previously unheard rehearsal recording of an unreleased 1979 song apparently called “Slapback” has been discovered. The track is from the pre-production sessions for the band’s Heaven And Hell album which features Ronnie James Dio on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar and Bill Ward on drums.

 

 

It was supposedly uncovered and uploaded to YouTube by the stepson and executor of the estate of Sabbath’s longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls – Gary Rees. Rees said about ‘Slapback’ himself that: “This latest upload from the Geoff Nicholls estate I believe is called ‘Slapback’ from the scrawling on the cassette and the chorus. This is from the same cassette as the ‘Heaven & Hell’ upload on this channel. It doesn’t sound like a typical SABBATH song if it is them but it does sound like Ronnie James Dio.”

 

 

Have a listen below to this hidden gem and get transported back to 1979.