A Dirty Dozen with ALEX VOODOO from VOODOO GODS – April 2020

According to a recent press release: “When death metal icons like George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, guitar virtuoso Viktor Smolski, bass titan Jean Baudin and guitar god Jacek Hiro join together to form a death metal band, it reads like the membership list of the Metal Hall of Fame. This is the case with VOODOO GODS and therefore this band can be called a Death Metal Supergroup without exaggeration. The second studio album The Divinity Of Blood of this all-star band (which attaches great importance not to be called a side project) will be released on May 15th, 2020 via Reaper Entertainment.” We get drummer Alex to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

The album is called: The Divinity Of Blood and it’s our second full length album. I think it is a little more melodic then our previous material; few parts are also influenced by extreme metal and really fast. We never use blast beats, but I tried to push the double bass and skank beats to a different level. There might be some time signatures which will raise some eyebrows. The album is pretty straight forward, but the guitar leads are something, people will have to listen few times, before they get them. Some of them are very far from Metal and beyond anything you ever heard in Death or Thrash Metal. I gave Jean (Baudin) much more space to do his thing and during the mix we highlighted those parts. Not on this album, there are some really dangerous messages on our previous album. People who know about Voodoo might find them…

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I grew up with music, my mum played the piano for many years and music was constantly present in our home. I took piano and even guitar lessons, but with 14 years, I realized, that drums are my thing. That is easy, I was 10 years old and Kiss released their Asylum album. “King Of The Mountain,” the opener from that album, had that amazing drum part. I heard that song over and over and just wanted to play like Eric (Carr). It took my folks four years to take me serious with playing the drums, in 1989 my grandma bought me my first drum set.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Funny you ask. When I was still playing the piano, it was Jan Hammer and the Miami Vice soundtrack, he was also an amazing drummer. With 12, Queen and Warlock became my favorite bands; but for my musical taste, you can only blame Kiss. Asylum, and even though it was released eight years earlier, Love Gun. In 1988 my friend told me: “Dude, check this out (that was Death’s Leprosy), you never heard something like this!!” One year later in 1989 the band Napalm (New York) released Cruel Tranquility, that was even before I knew Kreator and Sodom, those two albums put me on the path to Death/Thrash Metal.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Death, Morbid Angel, Stratovarius, Grave Digger and Monstrosity; but in my opinion Voodoo Gods sound like Voodoo Gods, we have a  distinguish mixture of Death, Power and Thrash Metal.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

King Diamond of course. I love his music, the melodies, the arrangements and his voice. He is God and Ozzy, Rob Halford and King Diamond are the last ones.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I would say; a mixture of Thrash, Power and Death Metal additional Classic music and Filmscore. I mentioned the last two, because I love scales and stuff like Yngwie Malmsteen and old Nevermore. All these things become the sound of Voodoo Gods. That never happened, once one guy wrote, we sound like Death, but that was just a huge compliment and I would be extremely happy,  if real Death fans would dig our stuff!!!

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Independence and creativity !!! I travel anyway much, so I meet plenty of people…

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

That ain’t gonna happen, we are not fucking hippies!! But I am a chef and always cook for all of us. In Sweden even for Andy (LaRocque, our producer) and sometimes also for his family. I love to cook. Beer is always there, I never travel without and I always make sure there is plenty for everybody.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

King Diamond last summer; I see him quite often when they tour and he is such a gentlemen and sooo friendly…. when I see him and he asks how I am, I just stutter and freeze in awe!!

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Cook of course, everything else is illegal.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

There are a few personal things, I might have done differently. One thing I can share, I wish  I would have started my musical career few years earlier. I went 13 years to school to do my A levels and after that my study. An early start would have been better for Voodoo Gods.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I have to name five records: Kreator – Extreme Aggression, Sodom – Agent Orange, Death – Symbolic, Sepultura – Arise and Beneath The Remains. As you can see, four of them are pure Thrash Metal and only one Death Metal. Those records just blew my head away and I listened to them few years consecutively. Nothing else, for years, especially Sepultura never left my Discman.

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Category: Interviews