The next “supergroup” to arrive on the scene, Resurrection Kings, has been formed by Frontiers Records and is filled with true 1980’s veterans with hard rock cred. While Craig Goldy might not be a household name, he certainly has a stellar resume, having recorded and played with Dio three separate times, most notably on Dream Evil. Before that, he replaced Jake E. Lee in Rough Cutt and worked with Giuffria on his self-titled debut. Vinny Appice, of course, has a long history playing with Dio on and off for 30 years both in Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell and during his solo career. Most recently he played drums for Joel Hoekstra’s 13 (on many people’s top 10 lists for 2015).
Appice is paired with veteran actor and bassist Sean McNabb, who started out in 1981 with Quiet Riot, playing on their debut album and has played with modern versions of Dokken and Great White. The band is rounded out by singer Chas West, who has fronted such bands as The Jason Bonham Band, Lynch Mob, and Foreigner and is a good fit here. He has great reach on songs like “Fallin’ For You“, and he belts out ballads such as “Never Say Goodbye” just like it’s 1986 all over again.
So given the pedigree, we should be expecting great things, and Resurrection Kings delivers a solid, heavy album complete with a badass album cover! The songs were written by Goldy and Frontiers’ in-house songwriter Alessandro Del Vecchio, 
who lets his influences shine through. The opener “Distant Prayer” has a real Styx/Foreigner sound to it. The vocals seem to be pushed to the back a little to let the instruments come through. The second track “Livin’ Out Loud” has a great riff and guitar solo, as does “Don’t Have to Fight No More”, which has more influences than I can count, from Great White, to Dokken and so on.
“Path of Love” sounds like Whitesnake (even West’s vocals), but it’s on the Dio inspired tracks where this album really stands out, especially tunes like “Who Do You Run To” and “Had Enough.” The balance is even changed – you can hear the vocals louder on these tracks. And they don’t let up – the last song on the album, “What You Take”, has a tremendous solo on it. The entire album is filled from top to bottom with a modern take on 1980’s hard rock and will have you digging back into your catalog looking for more!
Resurrection Kings comes out Friday, January 29th and can be purchased through the Amazon link on decibelgeek.com.
