Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Voodoo Hill
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2015
Length: 55:05
Rating: 4/5
Dario Mollo is an Italian guitarist, arranger, composer and producer who kicked off his career in the heavy metal outfit Crossbones, then spent the years developing his talents by working with prominent names of rock’n’roll like Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Trapeze), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, MSG) and Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy, Deep Purple)!
The self-titled debut of Voodoo Hill, the project fronted by Dario Mollo and the one-and-only »the voice of rock«, the incomparable Glenn Hughes, came out 15 years ago. Its follow-up “Wild Seed of Mother Earth” (2004) is still considered probably the heaviest album of Mollo’s career. Both records came out on Frontiers Records, and for the third one, the new »Waterfall«, Glenn and Dario are sticking with the label.
The album »Waterfall« remains Mollo’s manifesto of deep devotion to the classic rock bands that founded hard rock in the seventies. This time the ideas came pouring in, fueled by inspiration from Rainbow, Deep Purple, late Black Sabbath (the post-Ozzy era) and Whitesnake, and Mollo felt it was time for a new Voodoo Hill record. And when it comes to Voodoo Hill, the right man for the vocal duties is, of course, the majestic Glenn Hughes.
So what we’ve got here is an album that, compared to the dark, noisy »Wild Seed of Mother Earth«, feels softer, lighter and more sophisticated, even though it keeps a 100% hard rock stance. It’s hard rock built on classic guitar phrases, with Glenn Hughes’s vocal firepower adding a hugely important touch. Like he’s found himself at home again. In rock! Hughes holds nothing back. Unbridled salvos of vocal excess and outstanding improvised bits come one after another at every turn of this album, yet they never try to overpower the phrasing or the musicality Mollo builds on guitar. The latter shows, in his tone and in the solos themselves, a fondness for Richie Blackmore, which is nothing new. The middle instrumental sections of the songs underline this especially, as do the compositions themselves, the title track above all.
Moments like Eldorado, with its instantly memorable chorus, grow on the heart of every fan of the classic hard rock school in no time. Then there are the moments more heavily blues-soaked, like the track White Feather. The album closes with the excellent, ballad-leaning Last Door, one of the most beautiful compositions on the record, which keeps things at a high atmospheric level right to the very end.
Dario Mollo has put together a bundle of new Voodoo Hill songs full of varied ideas, which makes »Waterfall« a high-quality release that by no means disappoints. Eleven years since the predecessor is a long time, so Mollo surely picked the best of the best from his ideas for the new album. That goes for the production too! An excellent new album, then, with a special touch added by yet another outstanding vocal performance from the legendary Glenn Hughes.
Lineup
Dario Mollo – guitar
Glenn Hughes – vocals
CONTRIBUTING MUSICIANS:
Dario Patti – bass guitar, keyboards
Riccardo Vruna – drums
Andrea Maiellano – additional bass guitars on tracks 3, 4 and 6
Vladimir Ruzicic Kebac – drums on tracks 7, 9 and 11
Production
Dario Mollo
Track list
1. All That Remains
2. The Well
3. Rattle Shake Bone
4. Underneath and Down Below
5. Waterfall
6. Karma Go
7. Evil Thing
8. Eldorado
9. White Feather
10. Sunflower
11. Last Door
