The pure mournful sounds of doom emanate from this German 3-piece. I haven't heard such an unfussy "rocking" doom album in quite a while, as deathly funeral dirge and weepy Gothic stuff seem to be more in vogue.

I thought I was listening to an unreleased gem by The Obsessed with first cut "Please Let All Truth In Your Heart". The ringing guitar tone is a dead ringer for Wino Weinrich's and the reedy, whining voice of Uwe Groebel also conjures up memories of Wino and a young Ozzy. But the record is not just an Obsessed redux. The title track is thicker, heavier, doomier, with a memorable chorus riff and then "Funeral Farewell" really slows things down with glacier-paced doom ala the first Cathedral album. The album hops around within the various sub-genres of doom metal, but always managing to sound very pure in its devotion to this esoteric art. With the song "Truth", the pace picks up to a fairly quick level, but then, not all the stuff from Cathedral, Pentagram, and Sabbath was plodding. Speaking of Pentagram, they are another big influence on Voodooshock, as tracks like "Diamond Queen" and "Warm Knives Cut Deeper" have those warm and easy riffs with a touch of the blues to them.

The record ends with a truly morbid, bass-soaked ode, "You Don't Have to Fear Death", which has a really creepy feel to it. Voodooshock have come up with an album sure to appeal to all fans of Sabbath/Pentagram/Obsessed based doom metal and dark rock. The fruits of this garden are strange indeed...