VOODOO CIRCLE Locked & Loaded | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

 

Released by AFM Records on January 15th, 2021

Quick Background

Voodoo Circle is a German hard rock/heavy metal band founded in 2008, as a project of guitarist Alex Beyrodt (Primal Fear) who had the idea to re-think his personal vision of music, making songs more based on his early influences, such as Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple and Rainbow. In 2020, band boss, guitarist and main songwriter Alex Beyrodt gathered singer David Readman (Pink Cream 69), bass player Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Sinner) and drummer Markus Kullman (Glenn Hughes, among others). I find Voodoo Circle first two albums quite nice with some memorable cool songs. But after that I lost touch, the last album 2018's Raised On Rock with singer Herbie Langhans on vocals did not appeal to me. Now with  David Readman back, let's see what Voodoo Circle brings.

Locked & Loaded

Locked & Loaded is Voodoo Circle's sixth album. It features 11 tracks in 53 minutes.  A bit too long for my taste but not that bad. Overall, no surprises or material changes are presented to us by Locked & Loaded. In the last few records Voodoo Circle has really doubled down on almost being almost a Whitesnake cover band. David Readman more often than not sounds just like Coverdalle. Is that a bad thing per se? Of course not, Readman is a great singer paying homage to a legendary singer. But it does get repetitive and frustrating. 

"Flesh & Bone" is nice opener. Very energetic, great drumming and very nice guitar solo. The same goes for one of my favorites "Straight for the Heart". Additionally Voodoo Circle shine when they go a bit more progressive. For example, I really enjoy the groove of "Magic Woman Chile" certainly another one of my favorites. Then "Devil's Cross", the longest track on the album, is one of the only that brings me back to the first albums. It's mid tempo almost Sabbath-like and it moves away from the Coverdalle complex. Great song. Still with the longer songs, "Wasting Time" is another highlight. 

Previously I liked when they bring the bluesy elements into the forefront like in "This Song Is For You". Unfortunately this song reminds me too much of "Still Got the Blues (For You)" by Gary Moore and it drives me crazy! I can't listen to it. 

The Picky Guy

Despite being a well executed and produced album. The resemblance to Whitesnake is too strong and bothers me. The song writing is not consistent and some musical choices didn't stick the landing. For example, the title track has good moments but that happy keys' sound irritates me. And then the ballad, yes...the only good thing about the ballad "Eyes Full of Tears" is the melodic guitar solo, other than that a skippable ballad. One constant positive aspect of the album is the guitar solos. They are always very well though and executed. For example "This Song Is For You" has a very bluesy long and melodic solo. By the way, not a fan of the album cover, it looks like a Malmsteen live album.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Voodoo Circle makes a melodic hybrid of hard rock and melodic metal with some bluesy elements. I must confess that the best thing about this album was to take me back to listen to their first two albums. Those records had better songwriting and more character. Since them, Voodoo Circle has become too much a copy of Whitesnake but luckly with some sparks of creativity. With that said, it's still a fun record to listen to. The songs I highlighted are very good and would go hand-in-hand with their early material. You can't go wrong with Voodoo Circle when trying to have a good hard rocking time. Since the good points outweighed the bad by a bit, I am giving it 77 / 100. Just enough to still be considered a good album. It's worth checking it out. 

SCORE: 77/100

Genre: Hard Rock

Released by AFM Records on January 15th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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