On May 25th, 2010 Krokus will release their 16th studio album entitled “Hoodoo”. Krokus have been plugging away for years making good music , however the classic line up that created “One Vice At A Time”, and “Headhunter” had dissipated many years ago. Through the years the common nucleus of Krokus has been Marc Storace, Fenando Von Arb and Chris Von Rohr, and in recent years even Fernando had called it quits. Well, the stars have aligned once again and the classic line up of Marc Storace, Fernando Von Arb, Chris Von Rohr, Mark Kohler and Freddy Steady are together again making power chord heaven on Hoodoo, but before we get into the nuts and bolts of the album let me give you a little recap of Krokus history as I see it.

When Krokus first came onto the scene they were known for sounding  nearly identical to Bon Scott style AC/DC, and were even criticized for that very reason. This is, however what made Krokus a great band. They did sound like AC/DC, but it was a sound that came naturally for them as it was their pure style. Who knows maybe they listened to a lot AC/DC and it just became part of their musical DNA. I don’t know, but it worked and it kicked ass!

Post Headhunter is where Krokus began to loose their center a bit. Albums like The Blitz and Change of Address where good albums, but they lacked the originality of Headhunter. Krokus seemed to be trying too hard to fit in with the L.A. driven American style metal bands of the mid to late eighties. I think this tactic clipped the bands wings a bit and as a result they never broke through to become the major headline act that they were on their way to becoming. Who could blame them though, I mean bands like Poison and Skid Row were cleaning up and times were changing for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal and sometimes bands have to follow the trends or fade away, however I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, the only reason why Krokus didn’t become a major headline act in the U.S.A is because they didn’t look like women. They looked like men in a metal band during a weird transgender faze in the world of Heavy Metal. I have always believed that had Krokus just been themselves and continued to create their brand of strong European style heavy metal they would have ended up in the same realm of great bands such as Judas Priest and Scorpions.

From start to finish Hoodoo is full to bursting at the seams with melodic catchy vocals, sizzling riffs and power chords that’ll make the rafters shake! Chris Van Rohr one of the bands guitarist and producer of Hoodoo has stated that he wanted the album to recall the sound Krokus had on the One Vice at a Time and Headhunter albums. In my estimation Krokus accomplished this task and then some. Hoodoo has recaptured the style and energy of those two classic hard rock albums on tracks such as “Keep Me Rollin”, “Rock and Roll Handshake” and “In My Blood”, which is my personal favorite song on the album. Remarkably Krokus has managed to produce a classic heavy hitting hard rock album as strong as their strongest material ever, and  nearly a quarter of a century since their hay day. With Hoodoo you get a taste of everything that made Krokus great. Songs that would have fit easily onto One Vice, Headhunter, and The Blitz. All these Krokus styles are represented here. No doubt about it this is the album that should have followed Headhunter, and sounds as though it did. Krokus sounds as strong as ever and doesn't seem to have slipped a bit. Simply put…..Hoodoo is pure hard rock magic!

It is to the credit of Krokus that they are still around making music 30 years later, which also says a lot about their talent and inexhaustible work ethic. May I also add that the music they make is top notch hard rock music that is as good as anything on the market today. I highly recommend that you give Hoodoo by Krokus a listen. Every single track is as strong as the other, there are no duds on this album period. If mainstream hard rock radio does not play Hoodoo in heavy rotation then they are missing the F***ing boat big time!

Ivan Parrish for Inside Heavy!