Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Voodoo Circle
Label: AFM Records
Release: 2018
Rating: 4/5
You’d think Alex Beyrodt would take a little time off, but there’s no way he’s easing up on his more-than-full throttle. Together with the rest of Primal Fear, he’s plugged into quite a few side projects and bands. One of them is Voodoo Circle. Originally set up as a project that turned out to be a hit, it grew into a full-time band, and here’s its fifth studio album already!
The big news is the new singer. That’s Herbie Laghans, who previously worked on the Avantasia project. The main trait of his vocals, unlike his predecessor, the otherwise outstanding David Readman (Pink Cream 69), is that Herbie’s voice is raspy. With a more than attractive and likable approach, he keeps up the big musical payoff we’ve always had from past Voodoo Circle releases. The catchiness of those infectious choruses, where the bombast hits its atmospheric peak, is fully intact. Also, the associations with Whitesnake and/or Scorpions will be following you at every step again. Add to that the playing style of Alex Beyrodt, an exceptional master of six-string theory. His playing is heavily inspired by the figure and work of Ritchie Blackmore, but cranked up to speed, which logically brings him close to the baroque excess of the famous guitar “rally driver” Yngwie J. Malmsteen. Besides, Voodoo Circle are excellent riders of the legacy of the first hard rock wave that emerged in Germany in the eighties, led by bands like Bonfire, Casanova, Frontline, Mad Max, Jaded Heart….
Don’t be surprised if Whitesnake albums come to mind, like »1987« (even »Saints and Sinners«), when »Raised On Rock« spins in your player. The first track, Running Away From Love, has a chorus deliberately set up as AOR as can be. Deliberately, so it grabs you right away! First go. The production keeps the bar high .This time, too, it’s got just the right punch, that proper German hard rock production (Sinner »only let himself be corrected« by the seasoned Dane Jacob Hansen on the final mix and mastering – Voodoo Circle are not Primal Fear, after all), where the guitars are up front, but Beyrodt and the gang are very crafty when it comes to arranging the songs. Time and again, the »poisonously carefully packaged«, musically supremely cocky and predatory harmonized lines of multi-part vocal melodies in the choruses steal the spotlight. Signature riffs that don’t invent anything new, but in return would rather knock nostalgically on the listener’s conscience. Hungry musicality, superb Beyrodt soloing at every turn of the record. Gritty German focus that Beyrodt and company don’t budge from by an inch, and that, apart from a few »borrowed and repackaged« old-school ideas, makes them once again full-bloodedly convincing at what they do.
With a new singer in their ranks, Voodoo Circle have kept all the songwriting quality defined by their studio predecessors. Laghans, meanwhile, has more than decently filled the gap left by the departure of the highly regarded vocal persona of David Readman. The new singer’s vocal character adds a fresh new patina to the songs. Last but not least, his arrival also brought a welcome realization, and the fact that this review is a touch different from the reviews of previous Voodoo Circle albums.
Line-up
Alex Beyrodt – guitar
Herbie Laghans – vocals
Mat Sinner – bass
Francesco Jovino – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Corvin Bahn – keyboards
Production
Mat Sinner
Track list
01. Running Away From Love
02. Higher Love
03. Walk On The Line
04. You Promised Me Heaven
05. Just Take My Heart
06. Where Is The World We Love
07. Ultimate Sin
08. Chase Me Away
09. Unknown Stranger
10. Dreamchaser
11. Love Is An Ocean
