In 2008 guitarist Alex Beyrodt (Silent Force, Primal Fear) formed Voodoo Circle in order to have a platform to produce the kind of music that influenced him, bands such as Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Jimi Hendrix.

Fast forward to Feb 9^th 2018 and the release of Voodoo Circle’s fifth studio album “Raised on Rock” from AFM Records.

The band announces their intentions for the album immediately, opening with the hard driving opening song Running Away From Love and the bluesy follow up track Higher Love.

While Alex Beyrodt undoubtedly drives the band’s sound, the addition of new singer Herbie Langhans, replacing David Readman, gives a fresh sound to the band’s music on the album. Langhans whiskey soaked voice blends perfectly with the stunningly underrated guitar work Beyrodt provides giving character to the songs on the album.

At 13 tracks (including 2 bonus songs) and coming in at just over an hour, Raised on Rock is longer than I typically prefer an album of this style to be but with no weak cuts and a nice variety of subject matter it’s hard to believe that there’s any way to trim the album down without losing something.

This album accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, and Alex Beyrodt and the rest of Voodoo Circle should be proud of the excellent job they’ve done honoring his heroes and raising the flag proudly for hard rock. While there’s certain to be a lot of competition, the bar has been set for the best album of its kind in 2018 by Raised On Rock.

Album Highlights:

Track 4 – You Promised Me Heaven, Track 6 – Where Is the World We Love, Track 10 – Dreamchaser, Track 12 – Time For The Innocent, Alex Beyrodt’s guitar and every solo he does, Herbie Langhans powerfully emotive singing.

Rating:

Vocals – 9/10

Musicianship – 9.5/10

Songwriting – 8.5/10

Production – 8.5/10

Overall – 9/10

Band Members:

Alex Beyrodt – guitars

Herbie Langhans – vocals

Mat Sinner – bass

Francesco “Cesco” Jovino – drums

 AFM Records – Label

Review by Mo