The name Alex Beyrodt should ring some bells in your head; this charismatic guitarist -who is considered as a guitar hero in Japan- has been one of the driving forces behind SILENT FORCE and has also done some work with SINNER. This time he was seeking for something different to channel his artistic energy in terms of already written music. The time seemed right and Alex grabbed the opportunity to form VOODOO CIRCLE; an act that I am sure how to characterize, a project or a full time band? Nevertheless here we have VOODOO CIRCLE homonymous and debut album that has been already released through Afm Records two weeks ago.
First of all I have to admit that I was a little bit skeptic about this one; most of the times when an artist who has connected his name with one band, releases a solo album it rarely escapes his musical past. This means that the 'new' music is nothing new and actually fills the gap that his main band leaves. Spewing Lies immediately blew away all these clouds of my mind with the excellent Hard Rock feeling that takes your mind to the 70s and of course RAINBOW. Yes, Alex is deeply influenced by the guitar enchanter Ritchie (who has left to seek his fortune elsewhere) having a similar guitar sound and phrases to get lost to. VOODOO CIRCLE had the luck to have behind the microphone Andi Deris' replacement in the Hard Rockers PINK CREAM 69. David Readman belongs to my favorite singers category where Joe Lynn Turner, Jorn and David Coverdale belongs among others. David has the expressional timbre and depth that fits exactly to this 70s sound and -why not?- takes the music into the next level.
The songs in this release are guitar based with solid Hard Rock backbone with killer phrases, addictive melodies and foot tapping grooves. Alex shows his composing/performing skills with excellent legatos like Kingdom Of The Blind and wonderful classic influenced solos as found in Enter My World Of Darkness. In this one Uli Jon Roth (in his late work) came to my mind and stood besides Ritchie Blackmore to form the ideal concert where the guitars come to life. This instrumental track is almost one solo with excellent effects that hit you right on time and literally make you close your eyes and enjoy the ride. The orchestration on the back adds depth and wraps up this pompous atmosphere that does not refers only to guitarists. Indeed, don't get me wrong this is not a guitar album; on the contrary is a Hard Rock one with straightforward songs that are perfect to fill your classes with anything you like and has more than 5% alcohol in it.
In Dream of Eden the keyboards enter the spot light and bring along some RAINBOW Rising atmosphere along; in this track Doogie White makes a guest appearance and underlines the aforementioned RAINBOW feeling with his wide ranged and powerful vocals.
I don't know and actually I do not care to find any flaw on this album; I really enjoyed listening to it with all these influences that took my mind several years back. Alex proved that he can think out of the box and create music that I have to admit I have missed. These days we have plenty of 'nu' stuff that most of them lack of feeling that was the driving force back in those days. So, if you like the old Hard Rock sound and the up-to-date finishing touches then join the ride with VOODOO CIRCLE and you won't regret it!