Gates The Comic by Hal Hefner, Presented by Heavy Metal

Today, on the one year anniversary of the death of Ronnie James Dio, we are proud to introduce the newest song to be included on the Gates soundtrack — a song titled “Is This Over Now?” by the hard rock band Inside The Black.

I’m excited to be a part of releasing the first music soundtrack from Heavy Metal magazine in over ten years, and this is a band that fits the bill perfectly. One of the standout tracks on the original movie soundtrack from 1981 was obviously “Mob Rules” by Black Sabbath, a band that has had a huge influence on Inside The Black.

The band also spent plenty of time listening to the rest of Ronnie James Dio’s music, with the albums Holy Diver and The Last In Line getting countless plays.

Whether it was Dio himself, guitarists Tony Iommi and Ritchie Blackmore, or drummers Bill Ward and Vinnie Appice, if you play rock music, you have been influenced by the music of Ronnie James Dio. “Man on the Silver Mountain” by Rainbow, “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules” by Black Sabbath, “Holy Diver,” “Rainbow in the Dark” and “The Last In Line” by Dio – all incredible songs that Inside The Black cites as playing a part in influencing their playing and songwriting.

Inside The Black is a major part of the Los Angeles rock scene, having kicked off the 2010 Sunset Strip Music Festival, as well as recently rang in the New Year at the Whisky A Go Go. They also opened up the most recent tribute to John Bonham, “Bonzo: The Groove Remains The Same,” which coincidentally featured Heavy Metal soundtrack alum Vinnie Appice and Dio alum Simon Wright, as well as other legendary drummers all playing a Led Zeppelin track.

There are a lot of layers to “Is This Over Now” which we will allow you to discover for yourself, but on at least one level, thematically it fits perfectly with many of the questions and themes of Gates.

“We’re honored to be on the soundtrack to Gates, and to be associated with the musical legacy created by the first Heavy Metal magazine soundtrack,” said Mike Richmond of Inside The Black.

So check it out and stream it for free in our music player while reading the comic. And if you want to go behind the scenes, you can check out an early demo for the song on the band’s blog, as well as hear snippets of the song being recorded in the studio in these featurettes: scratch tracks, bass, guitar.

Read more about Inside The Black at http://insidetheblack.com.

More details on the soundtrack are coming soon, so stay tuned!