Genre: HARD ROCK
Released by: EarMusic
Release date: 27th January 2017
Line up:
Steve Hawkins – Vocals
John Foottit – Lead Guitar
Sam Flint – Rhythm Guitar
Nick Wastell – Bass
Greg Ellis – Drums
Tracklist:
- In the Beginning
- Can’t be Afraid of the Dark
- Some Kind of Voodoo
- Pillars of Creation (Albion)
- Now That Those Days Have Gone
- Indestructible
- Save Me
- Rock for You
- Feeling Pressurised
- Dial ‘F’ for Freakshow
English 80’s rockers Chrome Molly are a band I haven’t heard – or indeed heard of, in a very long time… After splitting in 1991 and taking a lengthy sabbatical they made a return in 2009 – having lost and found band members along the way. And what did they do in the interim you may ask? Well, they were playing as a Van Halen tribute band amongst other things. Hoodoo Voodoo is their 6th studio release and I’m hoping its not their last but with a band who take the kind of breaks these guys do…you could never be sure. Always one to welcome being hit by a wave of nostalgia, I was intrigued to listen to a new album by an old (ish) band.
Beginning with the aptly named ‘Beginning’, I was gearing myself up for an epic rock ballad, however it culminated in a short but sweet haunting, melodic guitar instrumental. However disappointed I may have been that it didn’t amount to more than a minute in total it certainly set the pace of things to come.
Next up ‘Can’t be Afraid of the Dark’ is a fast paced catchy track with an all too familiar but not unwelcome feel to it and features a blistering guitar solo around the half way mark and indeed superior guitar playing throughout. Concluding with a nice touch of vocal growling, I really felt I knew this song after one listen, and I wanted to listen again…
Pillars of Creation introduces a darker, heavier tone, the vocals sounding slightly more aggressive but the descent into gloom lifts as the chorus kicks in, a fantastic track which pays homage to some of rocks greatest acts and features the lyrics “We Live for Metal”, and who can blame them?
‘Now That Those Days Have Gone’ eases in with a gentle bit of acoustic and although drums and electric break through it doesn’t pick up pace very much at all. Fantastic vocals and simplistic yet poignant lyrics definitely make this one of my favourites on this album.
Commencing with some hard core drumming and screaming guitar ‘Save Me’ would be another one of my top picks here, starting out fast paced the tempo changes subtly towards the end however vocals remain repetitive and catchy before the abrupt ending.
When I get as far as ‘Rock for You’ I feel that I have been rewarded with the epic rock song I was hoping for, the guitar towards the end of this track is amazing, however, the short but intense ‘Feeling Pressurised’ and the concluding track ‘Dial F for Freakshow’ are equally as impressive.
The versatility demonstrated on this album is outstanding. Categorised as hard rock I believe it encompasses several genres (or sub genres) – fantastically. The vocal range of Steve Hawkins is put to test and he pulls off several styles with ease and expertise. Musically and vocally superb, every track is a worthy credit to the album making selecting songs to highlight a difficult task. Chrome Molly may be a sporadic act to follow but they have conjured up a definite winner here…
Review: Karen Hetherington