Review: Crystal Ball – Déjà-Voodoo
Massacre Records (Sept 2016)
Reviewer: Dan Mann
Here we have another album which I’ll admit I’ve been eagerly awaiting after their excellent 2015 release ‘Liferider’.
Déjà-Voodoo, the band’s ninth album release, kicks off in a very similar vein with the opening title track ‘Déjà-Voodoo‘, a pounding rhythm section, the twin axe attack and the distinctive vocals of Steven Mageney.
There’s that old adage that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, and it’s gratifying to see Crystal Ball have stuck to a tried and tested sound. With eleven tracks (13 on digipak) on the album your certainly not short changed. From that opening title track, through to ‘To Be With You Once More‘, the Swiss rockers deliver a solid hard rock album. Hard rock as opposed to melodic hard rock seems to have fallen out of grace to some extent, but bands like Crystal Ball are still more than happy to carry the hard rock banner thankfully!
And so to the tricky choice of stand out tracks, always difficult when you enjoy the whole album. I particularly like ‘Home Again‘ the album’s ballad as well as ‘Without A Net‘ which has the album’s producer Stefan Kaufmann (ex Accept / U.D.O.) on backing vocals.
If you’re a fan then this album won’t disappoint. If your not familiar with Crystal Ball and fancy a decent hard rock album then this is worth adding to your collection.
