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Voodoo Circle: Raised On Rock
Alex Beyrodt Voodoo Circle - Raised On Rock CD Album Review

Voodoo Circle: Raised On Rock

Melodic Hard Rock/Metal
4.0/5.0

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AFM Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 29.01.2018

Where does time go? I thought we heard from guitar wizard Alex Beyrodt and his Voodoo Circle project just last year. But no, Whisky Fingers, a very fine album, appeared in 2015. Beyrodt is back, and Voodoo Circle is now a four-piece band with a new lead vocalist in Herbie Langhans from Symphonity and Sinbreed. Raised On Rock is Voodoo Circle's fifth studio album.

Voodoo Circle Band Photo

Voodoo Circle

Honestly, Beyrodt and company don't venture too far from the signature Voodoo Circle sound: melodic hard rock with a metal edge and laced with a blues motif. The band has always reminded me of Whitesnake, just more intense. Langhans is not quite the blues crooner that Coverdale is, but you can still here him deliver the blues timbre when appropriate. Of course, Beyrodt delivers his usual melodic harmonious riffs and thrilling guitar solos. In the rhythm section, the versatile Matt Sinner remains with the band to give punch to the hard rock groove.

As for the songs, the opener Running Away From Love might twist you up if your were looking for that blues motif to start. No, it's more melodic heavy metal, almost bordering on power metal. But wait for it, with the next song, Higher Love, hard rock meets blues in an AOR wrapper, and Langhans unwraps his soulful voice. You get some of that Whitesnake latent blues angle within Walk On The Line, Dreamchaser, and Ultimate Sin, all of which have a dangerously obsessive beat and groove from the rhythm section. But you can't mistake the Whitesnake influence within Where Is The World We Love where you hear Is This love floating in the background. Alternatively, with Just Take My Heart and Unknown Stranger, you have some straight up hard rockers, with both having melodic and harmonic AOR accessibility. Finally, and the last song, Love Is An Ocean, returns to the blues motif with plenty of acoustic guitar twisted with more of Langhans' soulful vocals.

By way of repetition, Raised On Rock is quintessential Voodoo Circle: melodic hard rock with a metal edge and laced with a blues moves. At first spin, I wasn't quite sure the album was as good as the previous Whisky Fingers, but Raised On Rock holds it's own, especially with Herbie Langhans at the microphone. Recommended.



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The Bottom Line

Raised On Rock is quintessential Voodoo Circle: melodic metal with a significant hard rock groove and laced with some blues guitar moves. At first spin, I wasn't quite sure the album was good as the previous Whisky Fingers, but Raised On Rock holds it's own, especially with the vocal support of Herbie Langhans. Recommended.

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