Last In Line guitarist Vivian Campbell has revealed their upcoming debut album is done and will be mixed in the coming weeks.
And he says the material he’s recorded with fellow former Dio members Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell, along with Hurricane and Lynch Mob frontman Andrew Freeman is sounding “epic.”
He tells the Eddie Trunk podcast: “I would say 50% of the songs would sound right at home on those first three Dio albums, and the others have a bit more of a modern edge to them.
“When you get Vinny and Jimmy and I playing, it sounds like the early Dio records, because that’s what it is. Obviously, Andy is a very different singer – he’s got a very different instrument, and he writes lyrics very differently. I’m very impressed with where he has gone lyrically on the record. So it’s great. It is so epic sounding. We’ve got some amazing songs and I’m hyper excited about it.”
The guitarist, who’s recovering from stem-cell treatment and working with Def Leppard on the follow-up to 2008’s Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, also insists he wouldn’t be involved with the project if Ronnie James Dio was still alive.
He continues: “I think if Ronnie was still alive and Dio was still out doing it, I don’t think we’d be here doing this. It wasn’t a deliberate action. It’s not like the day I heard the news that Ronnie had passed that I was starting to put the wheels in motion.
“It’s just something that organically grew. One thing led to another. I wouldn’t have felt right doing it if Ronnie was still out doing his thing.”
Meanwhile Appice says Last In Line is the best band he’s been involved with and reveals the atmosphere within the group has been ideal for creating new music.
He tells Totally Driven Radio: “It’s the best band I’ve ever been in. From the beginning it was great years ago when it started. Since then I’ve been in a lot of different bands and I look forward to hanging out with everybody – we have a great time. The ideas are flowing and the creativity is there. It’s just a nice atmosphere and I love those guys.”
The group will release the album via Frontiers later this year, although no firm release date has been set.