Add another band to the ever growing list of early 70's Black Sabbath sound-alikes, the doom ensemble called Voodooshock. Marie's Sister's Garden is the band's sophomore release, and first for Exile on Mainstream Records, and sees the group marching into territory previously tread by the legendary Sabbath, Cathedral, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, and current doom hipsters Witchcraft. It won't take a rocket scientist to guess the formula here-plenty of smoldering, slow, and heavy guitar dirges, Ozzy-like vocals courtesy of Uwe Groebel, and plenty of raw atmosphere. Although this disc won't win any awards for originality, there's some good head pounding going on here, and riffs that never seem to end. "Funeral Farewell" could have easily come off of Masters of Reality or Cathedral's Forests of Equilibrium, complete with monstrously slow & heavy guitar blasts, plodding rhythms, and haunting vocals. The band even throws in a bit of bluesy stomp here and there that will remind you of Down, case in point "Truth", "Feeding Flames With Letters", "Custom Made But Sacrificed", and the piledriving "I Need a Rest". However, most will be gravitated to the gruelingly doom drenched numbers like "Miserable Mercy" and "You Don't Need to Fear Death", both chilling examples of apocalyptic doom done the right way. It's all about the riffs baby, and these guys sure do a good job of cranking them out here on Marie's Sister's Garden. If you love the doom genre, you can't go wrong checking into this one folks.
Track Listing
1. Please Let All Truth In Your Heart 04:56
2. Marie's Sister's Garden 04:47
3. Funeral Farewell 07:44
4. Feeding Flames With Letters 04:18
5. Truth 03:09
6. Custom-made But Sacrificed 04:13
7. Miserable Mercy 06:18
8. Warm Knives Cut Deeper 04:40
9. I Need A Rest 02:47
10. Diamond Queen 04:03
11. You Don't Need To Fear Death 10:45