Released by: Escape Music
Release date: 29th September 2023
Genre; Melodic/Heavy Hard Rock
Links: https://jelusick.com/
Line Up:
Dino Jelusick – vocals / keyboards (Whitesnake/George Lynch/Michael Romeo and more)
Ivan Keller – guitar
Luka Broderick – bass, backing vocals
Mario Lepoglavec – drums, backing vocals
Tracklist:
1. Reign of Vultures
2. Died
3. What I Want
4. Animal Inside
5. Follow The Blindman
6. Acid rain
7. Healer
8. The Great Divide
9. Fly High Again
10. Chaos Master
11. The Bitter End
Free Dino!!! This Jelusick record has been a long time in the pipeline, with it building some real anticipation for what was to come, and rightfully so. Jelusick from Croatia has already had a resume of so much impressive potential. He started singing at age 3 and performing at 5. He has won countless awards, his band Animal Drive was started in 2020, and later he became part of the global touring entity that is The Trans Siberian Orchestra. In 2021 he was asked to join Whitesnake (guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals). His long list of accolades is truly endless. This is why it’s imperative that we finally get some solo material from this very talented singer.
Well here we are after much hoopla, and some turmoil dealing with some supposedly (allegedly) copyrighted things with former label Frontiers, the smoke has been cleared, and things settled there. Here we have “Follow The Blind Man”.
The thing right away I noticed is this album is heavy as hell, the production is superb!!!. Nice job Dino. All music and lyrics have been written by Dino himself. The show gets started with a potent number in “Reign of Vultures” where Dino shines with his trademark vocals, the guitar poundage is imminent full frontal, and this song rips. No staleness here, the array of tempo hits and rhythms is interesting to me. Nice start.
Jelusick’s versatile voice is a big deal here, he can swap from melodic, to just belting out the long-range on some of these songs. The guitars are thick and harkens back to old-school Hard Rock days with authentic appeal. Another tune that plays heavy as hell is “Died”, the chorus here dominates with abrasive appeal. This tune brings flashes of Alter Bridge and Myles Kennedy’s heavier side, just killer. The ballad intro vibes in “Follow the Blind Man” is a nice change of pace, a groovy power ballad that once more features the amazing vocals of Jelusick. The orchestration and the climbing chorus are majestic, leading to a sultry solo. The death growls in “Acid Rain” are different, again harder edgier groove with a thick distortion makes this tune stand out, and the heavy bottom feel is attractive and proggy. The uber-catchy “The Healer” once more features an addicting chorus, which makes me think Jorn Lande out loud, the acoustic intro is cool, but the tune just belts out later on, and the flying guitars are crunchy. The modern tonal sounds in “Fly High Again”, not to be confused with Ozzy’s “Flying High Again” is another spitfire energetic cut, with a nice gallop bass line at the beginning of the song, the backbone rhythm here is headbang worthy to the core.
The guitars on this record are so good, not in your face but just the right solos at the right time, letting Dino shine brightly in what he does, which is letting his range arrive, and that my friend he does with affirmation!!!. Props to guitar player Ivan Keller (Animal Drive), who I wasn’t familiar with, he does a great job here. Hard to meet expectations when so much has been riding on this one, but I think Dino and his band deliver a super high-quality record, with plenty of hooks, razor-sharp production, and the amazing vocals of Dino Jelusick. Finally, the world gets to hear a full complete offering handled by Dino himself and it’s damn worth it. My hope is that a wider audience discover his music, he can get out on the road and play some more dates. This music so well deserves it!!!
Score: 9/10
Reviewed by: Shadow Editor
Editors Pick 
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