The brainchild of Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, Last In Line was formed in 2012 to celebrate the life of metal legend Ronnie James Dio. Reuniting some of Dio’s former bandmates to perform as a tribute act, Campbell handed vocalist Andrew Freeman the unenviable task of stepping into the great man’s elven boots, the former Great White and Lynch Mob frontman handling the job with confidence and authority ever since.

Having moved forwards from merely covering Dio’s songs to writing original material, the band now have two full length studio under their belts and are set to release their third, Jericho (earMUSIC). With former Ozzy Osbourne bass player Phil Soussan taking over from Jimmy Bain who sadly died shortly before debut album Heavy Crown (Frontiers) was released, the line-up for this latest record is completed, as ever, by ex-Black Sabbath/Dio drum legend Vinny Appice.

Opening with a hard blast of classic rock, ‘Not Today Satan’, is blessed with a simple, fast-paced riff and a particularly fine vocal performance from Freeman. The portentous ‘Ghost Town’ follows with sociopolitical awareness and governmental antipathy while the lumbering crawl and drawling riff of ‘Bastard Son’ hits like a seventies Alice in Chains before picking up the pace to create a more traditional vibe for its second half.

‘Burning Bridges’ follows brooding power ballad ‘Dark Days’, boasting a classic metal riff with Freeman loading his vocals with more gravel than a granite quarry. You can almost hear Dio himself singing the second single ‘Do The Work’ before one of the standout cuts on the record, ‘Hurricane Orlagh’, switches from simple bass-led verses to fast-paced classic rock with a soaring chorus and an impressively frantic guitar solo from Campbell.

‘Walls Of Jericho’ kicks in with a riff reminiscent of early Leppard (hardly surprising, really) before ‘Story Of My Life’ takes a simple riff heard a million times before but still makes it work. Freeman excels again on the melancholic ‘We Don’t Run’ before the slow groove of ‘Something Wicked’ leads to closing cut ‘House Party At The End Of The World’, the latest single sounding in part like a cheeky reworking of the Dio classic, ‘We Rock’.

Another sturdy release, Jericho might not win any awards for originality but each individual performance is virtually flawless. Freeman belts out each song like his life depends on it while Campbell produces some typically exhilarating guitar solos. Soussan and Appice combine to create a formidable rhythm section and the whole thing is topped off with a clear, punchy production.

Buy the album here:

https://www.lastinlineofficial.com/

7 / 10

GARY ALCOCK