If you consider the songs on Voodoo Circle’s new album Raised On Rock to be an indicator of the current emotional condition their
most important protagonists find themselves in, there seems to be no reason to worry about band founder, guitarist and main
composer Alex Beyrodt in particular.
Thanks to Beyrodt’s excellent songwriting – as usual inspired by renowned sources such as Whitesnake, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Led
Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix – and his outstanding guitar performance which brings to mind icons from Ritchie Blackmore through Jimmy
Page to John Sykes, this recording oozes pure, unadulterated fervour. This exuberant energy, however, isn’t the merit of Beyrodt
alone but, without doubt, also that of his colleagues Mat Sinner (bass), Francesco Jovino (drums) and – last but not least – new
vocalist Herbie Langhans (Avantasia).
With Langhans as the group’s new frontman, the stylistic direction of the Voodoo Circle compositions hasn’t significantly changed
– unlike the general flair of the material: “I feel that the band sounds even more autonomous, a little less bluesy and much
meatier with Herbie at the mic,” Beyrodt enthuses. “This allowed me to work on ideas which would probably not really have suited
his predecessor David Readman but are absolutely perfect for Herbie’s powerful voice.” Talking of the sound: Raised On Rock was
mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, U.D.O.), whose unerring instinct for dynamics and frequencies lends the recording its
modern touch.
And another musician contributed significantly to the tight overall impression of Raised On Rock: the keyboards were manned by
Corvin Bahn (Saxon, Uli Jon Roth). So all in all, we can say that the new Voodoo Circle album truly lives up to its programmatic
title.