Band:
Matteo Bizzarri - Guitar, backing vocals, breaking guitars
Filippo Cavallini - Bass Guitar / Vocals - backing vocals
Dederico Di Marco - Vocals and rhytm guitar
Lorenzo Gollini - Drums
Alessandro Duo - Organ, guitar, backing vocals
Diskography:
Debut
Guests
Info:
All songs written, arranged & performed by Voodoo Highway.
Produced by Luca Magni.
Recorded between November 13th 2010 and January 12th 2011 by Luca Magni at Sonika Studios (Ferrara, Italy).
Mixed and Mastered by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studios, (San Marino). Cover Artwork: Silvia Favarato.
Photography: Andrea Righini.
Released 24/6-2011
Reviewed 29/7-2011
Links:
myspace
youtube
rock'n'growl
massacre
The band’s debut album is called Broken Uncle’s Inn which is a kind of strange name, what kind of uncle can that be, has his arm fallen off, maybe he has only a half body cut off in the middle with only one leg and arm and half a head, what do I know? Maybe they were thinking of broke or something in that fashion, maybe I am just playing on words for my own amusement. But the band name Voodoo Highway is also a kind of daft name for the next big thing in my opinion.
Some say that they are the most important rock band in a while, and that they are the next Deep Purple, all we know is that they are certainly inspired by said band. Their musical style sure sounds Deep Purplish but also in the style of later Rainbow around the Down to Earth era but with some hints of more modern touches but just hints. The sound very much reminds of late seventies hard rock music with the same kind of energy and stylistic touches. The production though is more modern so the sound itself is better but the style remains about the same. With the band being italian there is always that threat of badly accented singers but that is not the case with Voodoo Highway, the vocalist is very good with his english vocals. The production itself has no traces of the italian either, it sounds more british if anything. Even the ten tracks and only 39 minutes playing time is a nod back to the time when music was packaged in much bigger packages than it was today, from cover artwork’s sake it was much better then but that would not benefit the dull looking cover art of this album though. Simplified we might say that Voodoo Highway play seventies music repacked in a modern container.
But are they as good as some say? Simple answer is no. Nothing is ever as simple as that though, or black and white or whichever of that you like. If you are a fan of this kind of music I am sure you will like this, if you adore Deep Purple you will probably enjoy this as well (unless of course you are a stupid person who thinks one band is always best). I think that any ageing hard rock fan can relate to this album and probably enjoy it as well, some younger ones who just found Deep Purple or similar will probably also be able to take this on. It is not original but it is well made, the songs are good and they have that sense of rock’n’roll which is so important for good rock bands. The issue for me is that it is nothing new, I have heard it before and not being a fan of the genre I think that a more modern touch can’t really change that fact.
But as I said there are good songs, the one I mainly think of is J.c. Superfuck which has a great sense of energy and is a really good song, as is many of the other songs on the album so if you like this kind of thing it must feel really good. I think it works well as a background, something you have but do not really listen to. It is another one of those retro styled rock bands that witness towards a development much like the one in the film industry, the new and original stuff becomes more and more sparse, it is not as bad as with hollywood but it is getting worse all the time. Voodoo Highway is one of the better of these band as I usually dislike these bands, they are quite alright but honestly it is nothing I will carry with me or something I long to play any day but it is good nonetheless.
HHHHHHH
