Rare unreleased blues rock tracks from the late Ronnie James Dio are to be released.

Before Black Sabbath, Dio and even Rainbow, noted metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio was in a honky tonk blues rock band called Elf.

Even before Elf, in 1967 Dio helped form The Elves, and twelve previously unreleased tracks from that band are set to be released as an album called And Before Elf… There Were Elves.

The songs are both studio and live tracks, lovingly remastered by longtime Dio engineer Wyn Davis.

The album will also feature a 3D lenticular hologram cover featuring alternating shots of Dio from the first Elf album and another of the band from 1971.

And Before Elf… There Were Elves will be released by Niji Entertainment Group on October 11.

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