On Broken Heart Syndrome, Voodoo Circle once again tap into neo-classical performances with an inspired bluesy edge. Think Rainbow meets Whitesnake, with a solid dose of Yngwie Malmsteen. David Readman’s voice on this record so reminded me of classic David Coverdale, that at first I checked to see that I hadn’t accidentally. Voodoo Circle; Broken Heart Syndrome. Broken Heart Syndrome; 0:00; 04:58; $0.18 Buy. Voodoo Circle Voodoo Circle. Voodoo Circle; Broken Heart Syndrome. Broken Heart Syndrome; 0:00; 04:58; $0.18 Buy. Voodoo Circle Voodoo Circle. Discography information about the CD Broken Heart Syndrome released by Voodoo Circle.
(CD,, 2011) Most of the times I do not ‘trust’ this type of bands that pop up out of the blue having in the lineup already known and successful artists. Blazedtv Serial Key. Sometimes they are called ‘project’ bands and sometimes they deliver new/interesting music that little has to do with the artist’s famous past. Fortunately, the latter description fits VOODOO CIRCLE, a band with Alex Beyrodt and Mat Sinner as the standing out names. The debut album of VOODOO CIRCLE was pretty good, but I think it lacked of a distinct direction giving the impression of experimentation and self-exploration. From the first CD spin “Broken Heart Syndrom” feels to carry a self-esteem standing atop the influences that are nicely blended here. First of all, if you haven’t listened to a single musical note from VOODOO CIRCLE I have to clear out that there are no SILENT FORCE or PRIMAL FEAR/ SINNER influences in the album due to the presence of Alex Beyrodt and Mat Sinner, respectively. If that was the case I wouldn’t care listening to the album since there would be no point, wouldn’t be?
Since I took this out of the equation I can discuss what is happening on VOODOO CIRCLE’s second effort. Since the mastermind of the band is a guitarist then it is expected the music to be guitar driven. And that is exactly the case with the up-tempo opener “No Solution Blues”. Fat rhythm section with the oldie but goodie 80s Hard Rock aura shining through the dominating WHITESNAKE finishing touches especially in the vocals. The song sounds fresh and solid and it would not be too much to add in the influences-list RAINBOW especially of the Joe Lynn Turner era. David Readman has a great voice having Coveradale’s harshness and Turner’s strong melodic backbone.
And on these vocals Beyrodt can deliver the Blackmore inspired guitar playing that shine during the excellent solo in “King Of Your Dreams”. The keyboards in the right proportion add the extra melodic layer maintaining the vintage feeling through the most of the times Hammond-like sound. Things become more interesting as Beyrodt delivers riffs from the Blues scale in “Devil's Daughter” and in the slower “Blind Man” with the killer old-school keyboards in the background. There is emotion in the compositions and you can feel the guitar ‘talking’ to you especially during the mid to slow tempos where the solo seems like a product of improvisation. One of the album’s highlight is definitely the RAINBOW inspired “The Heavens Are Burning” that enters with nice “Rising” keyboards that introduce the guitar leads and Readman’s distinct timbre making think of Turner’s performance in the live recordings included in the compilation “Finyl Vinyl” (great double vinyl). Maybe I used the RAINBOW influences more than enough to describe what is the dealt here, but believe me the musicianship is top notch and I am not talking about a copycat situation. This is extremely smooth album with a great deal of vintage atmosphere hidden behind the great guitar work and fitting like a glove vocals.