Dizzying ride between Heaven and Hell

In heavy metal, you must hit the right combination of ham and fist. Wednesday night at the Forum, Heaven and Hell, Megadeth and Machine Head gave an advanced seminar in the delicate art of arena rock.

Guitar riffmaster Tony Iommi and bass wrangler Geezer Butler virtually invented arena rock nearly 40 years ago as half of Black Sabbath. And they continue to deliver the quintessence of clobber with Heaven and Hell -- which, completed by Ronnie James Dio’s operatic tenor and Vinny Appice’s fearful drum slog, duplicates the highly regarded 1982 version of Sabbath. (Iommi could call it that but defers to his original Sab incarnation fronted by Ozzy Osbourne.)

The wide-ranging audience had been waiting all night to slake its Hellish thirst when the glitter-shirted elf Dio appeared, chanting the provocative questions “What do you say to the dead? Will you forgive me for living?” Iommi’s shuddering riff, like a shoulder thrust against a rusty sepulcher door, set the tone for what functions best in an echoing concrete vault: deliberate battery.

Though Heaven and Hell revved regularly with chargers such as “The Mob Rules” and “Die Young,” the selections from the three Dio-Sab studio albums (from 1980, 1981 and 1992) were dominated by slow and dire paeans such as the environmentally themed “Children of the Sea” and the mystical “The Sign of the Southern Cross.” The new moans “Shadow of the Wind” and “The Devil Cried,” from the just-released “Black Sabbath: The Dio Years,” blended seamlessly with the murky templates stamped on 1992’s “Dehumanizer” album.

By the time the four crashed to the conclusion of the dynamic “Falling Off the Edge of the World,” the crowd was like a mass of asylum inmates clamoring for the coup de grace. It arrived with the dizzying extended build of the signature song “Heaven and Hell,” Iommi flaying demonic inspirations while Dio joined his virtuosic howls with those of the rabble. And these guys are over 60.

Dave Mustaine’s current edition of Megadeth preceded Heaven and Hell with a hard-bitten set reaped from its ‘80s thrash period (“Peace Sells ... But Who’s Buying”) all the way through recent years’ more melodic but no less intense proclamations (“Kick the Chair”). Fueled by corporate conspiracy and alien cover-ups, Mustaine’s paranoia is his muse. Even if the golden-tressed guitarist has joined the anti-U.N. squad for his upcoming album, “United Abominations,” his ripping new song “Washington’s Next” indicates his suspicion serves him. This night’s arc peaked with the spooked spiels of “Hangar 18”; Mustaine is letting slick new axman Glen Drover handle a bigger share of the solos lately. Overall, despite drummer Shawn Drover’s solid thwack, Megadeth’s condensed and speedy sound didn’t sync well with the big hall’s booming acoustics.

By contrast, opener Machine Head showed real arena adaptability. These thrash vets, riding a pretty spectacular new studio album, “The Blackening,” pulled off the unusual feat of sounding like a totally different (and just as good) band live. The double-kick drums and pinging guitars united into a head-trippy environment that nevertheless rocked viciously. Despite front man Robb Flynn’s strenuous exhortations, though, the sparse early-evening audience (the building filled later) stood largely indifferent, anticipating Heaven’s arrival.