Review: Supersonic Blues Machine – Voodoo Nation

Provogue/Mascot Label Group (June 24th, 2022)

Reviewer: Dan Mann

Fabrizio Grossi and his merry band, otherwise known as Supersonic Blues Machine are back with their third album ‘Voodoo Nation‘ via Provogue/Mascot Label Group.

Once again singer / guitarist Kris Barras is on vocal duties, a perfect fit in my humble opinion. Whilst his own band is leaning more towards a heavier sound, with Supersonic Blues Machine the material is a mixture of blues and blues rock with that added little sprinkle of Grossi magic, plus the multi inspirred drumming of Kenny Aronoff that injects something rather special to the overal sound.

If that trio wasn’t enough to get one’s musical juices flowing, those of you familiar with all things Supersonic Blues Machine will know only too well that an album won’t come without a heady mixture of additional talent.

And talent there certainly is, with the likes of Charlie Starr, Eric Gales, Joe Louis Walker, Ana Popovic, Kirk Fletcher, King Solomon Hicks, Josh Smith and Sonny Landreth. It’s like someone at Mascot left the keys to the talent vault lying around, only for Fabrizio to slip it into his pocket!

I’ve played the entire album through quite a few times, be it while driving, sitting in the office or mowing the lawn. What this has highlighted once again is not only the abilitys of those involved, not that such a thing was really in question, but the sheer strength of the songwriting and arrangement of each song. This album is one of those delightful releases that keeps on growing, improving, with every listen.

Yes, to those of you who’ve not yet dipped your toe into the band’s musical output, it initially comes across as a standard, run of the mill blues/blues rock album. Maybe, if that’s not always your thing, you might even quit after the first song. But that would be a mistake. With every listen you pick up segments you missed previously, those little sprinkles of magic I mentioned at the start.

Whilst I personally was already enjoying ‘Voodoo Nation‘, the ‘eureka’ moment when an album takes on another level came with two tracks in particular. ‘Devil At The Doorstep‘, featuring the incredible Eric Gales, and the title track, ‘Voodoo Nation‘, which is a second short of seven minutes of utter class. Just superb!

Messers Grossi & Co have done it once again, delivering, for me, one of the best blues rock albums of the year