UMUR
"Voodoocult" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German industrial/thrash metal projekt Voodoocult. The album was released through Motor Music in January 1995. That´s little under a year after the debut album "Jesus Killing Machine (1994)" was released. The Voodoocult project was founded by Phillip Boa, lead vocalist in Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub, a German alternative rock band, who was relatively successful in the late 80s/early 90s. After releasing their 7th full-length studio album "Boaphenia" in 1993, Phillip Boa opted to pursue a more metal oriented style and created the Voodoocult project as a vehicle for that ambition.
On "Jesus Killing Machine (1994)", Boa teamed up with prolific musician/producer Waldemar Sorychta (Despair, Tiamat, Grip Inc.), who plays guitars on the album, and also enlisted drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Grip Inc., Philm), and bassist Dave Ball. In addition to that Chuck Schuldiner (Death, Control Denied) and Mille Petrozza (Kreator) also make guest appearances on the album. With that many prolific guests/session musicians, "Jesus Killing Machine (1994)" almost sold itself, but this time around Boa has opted for a more band oriented approach and something resembling a "real" lineup. Bassist Dave Ball and Phillip Boa (vocals) himself are the only remaining musicians from the debut, while new faces are Markus Freiwald (drums), Gabby Aubalarach (guitars), Moses Pellberg (Samples), and Jim Martin (guitars). The latter of course fresh out of Faith No More, so the lineup is not completely devoid of stardust.
Stylistically the project still moves in the same waters as on the debut, which means an industrial tinged heavy/thrash metal style with punk leanings (and a few nods toward goth rock too). To my ears the music has become slightly harder edged compared to the debut but it´s details. There´s more emphasis on the guitars in the mix, and the sound production is overall a bit more compact than the case was on the debut. The material on the 11 track, 46:51 minutes long album are relatively well written and catchy too, but it´s not necessarily an album you´ll remember long after it´s done playing. For that the band´s sound simply isn´t original sounding enough.
Upon conclusion "Voodoocult" is a slightly difficult album to rate, as it´s an album that´s fairly enjoyable while it plays, the musicianship is on a high level, and the sound production is professional and well sounding, but it´s still like there´s something missing for it to reach a really high level when it comes to the songwriting. Therefore a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.