Original Dio band dust the cobwebs off with something magnificent
When the original Dio band – guitarist Vivian Campbell, bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Vinny Appice – formed Last In Line, it was, by their admission, just a bit of fun. They added singer Andrew Freeman, notably of Lynch Mob, to the ranks and played a few shows of Dio’s songs (MV saw one – at Bloodstock in 2013 – and they were rather good). That was meant to be that, but such is the love for this type of music in general and Dio in particular, it couldn’t end just like that.
The outfit, named after Dio’s storming 1984 album, say they – and let’s be honest they are all rather busy men – had no plans to write original songs when they formed, but fast a couple of years and here they are with a debut collection.
And, if you’ve ever had a hankering for classic sounding hard rock, you are about to be very glad they made it.
The opener “Devil In Me” has all the ingredients that makes “Heavy Crown” a little special. Chugging riff, excellent soloing, a killer hook and the performance of Andrew Freeman himself. He does a manful job. Notably never trying to copy RJD (who could after all?) but capturing everything that made him great.
“Martyr” is a bit of a gallop, but “Starmaker” is better still, a menacing bass groove over the verses, it explodes gloriously into life in the chorus, and as if to prove they can do heavy as well as anyone, “Burn This House Down” takes no prisoners.
The overall feel of “….Crown” is that of men who, despite the obvious expectation, quite fancied getting in the studio, getting their heads downy and their horns up. There’s a carefree, freewheeling feel to “I Am Revolution” and “Already Dead” for example.
“Blame It On Me” is genuinely dark and brooding and along with “Orange Glow” occupies the outer reaches here, while there’s a sense of longing in the title track to give it an appropriately heavy air.
There’s a ballad – “Curse The Day” – but for the rest of it, there are no let ups, either in pace or indeed quality. Things end with “The Sickness” which is a work of huge ambition, and as it appears to go off racing toward whatever horizon it’s looking for, you wouldn’t bet against their being a second Last In Line record. These things do, after all, have a habit of taking on their own momentum.
There’s no greater praise than to say you can imagine Ronnie James himself singing these tracks. From that you can conclude that Last In Line are to Dio what Black Star Riders are to Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. Like BSR they capture the essence of the legendary music without ever attempting to be a tribute. They do have another similarity to BSR: they are brilliant. “Heavy Crown” proves that.
Rating 9/10
