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GW Initially, Heaven and Hell was formed for a single, one-time tour, but it’s now turned into more than that.

IOMMI That was another thing that wasn’t planned. We’re just taking it as it comes. When the label wanted to put out the Dio Years compilation, they asked me if I had any old recordings that we had never used. There were a few things, but I suggested approaching Ronnie and seeing if he’d be interested in recording a few new songs. Ronnie came over to England to work in my studio, and we got to know each other again. It really fell into place. We recorded one song, then two, then three, in a really short amount of time. We played it to the other guys. They thought it was great, and off we went and finished those three songs. Then we decided to go out on tour.

We’re taking it step by step. We’re not saying we’re going to be doing this for the next 10 years; we’ve just done it because we really want to do it. That’s much better than saying that the band is going to be around forever. Getting back together with Ronnie this time is a totally different thing. We give and take a lot more all around. It makes it so much easier. If you become too stubborn in these things, they don’t last. It just blows to pieces. We definitely realize that this is it. We’ve dropped all of our egos and we’re getting on with it. It’s been great this time.

GW You’ve inspired a huge genre of music that is still going strong today. How does that make you feel?

IOMMI It’s fantastic to me. When I look at MySpace, I can’t believe all of the bands that are inspired by us. I’m always meeting guitar players who tell me that I inspired them to play guitar. I’m really proud to have had such a positive influence on so many people.

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