Last in Line – Jericho

With a sole Vinny Appice, pounding a vicious drum pattern;  just like on Black Sabbath’s classic “Dehumanizer”, the new album of Dio heirs Last in Line begins. The first song is called “Not today Satan” and is exactly what the title suggests, a cheerful greeting to the evil one, saying today he has nothing to fetch. Overall, it is a sprightly 67-year-old who beats the drums and urges the rest of the crew to deliver pure energy and elegant melody. Somewhat unexpectedly the record doesn’t sound much like Dio, considering that half the band (including guitarist Vivan Campbell) hails from there.

No, rather it is to the heavier parts of Glenn Hughes’s discography (“Building the machine”, “Soul mover”, the group California Breed) that you have to look for references; partly because of soulful vocals (Andrew Freeman sings not unlike Hughes), partly due to blues-based heavy metal with roots winding all the way back to the 70’s when Last in Line was shaped as musicians.

Another parallel I draw when I hear the energetic “Hurricane Orlaugh”, is to Blue Murder. Yes, somewhere in a cross-fertilization between John Sykes and the aforementioned Hughes gather Freeman’s vocal cords. Also, it’s fun to hear Campbell play heavy metal guitar – his Def Leppard membership notwithstanding – but is the Iron Maiden lend in “Walls of Jericho” (“Prowler”, anyone?) on purpose? Surely, the drum pattern in the closing “House party at the end of the world” is a tender nod to “We Rock”. The front cover, though, looks like Slayer.