Aluk Toldolo – Voix

Aluk Todolo are peddlers of occult rock, if you are not familiar with the term occult rock, just imagine a Hammer House of Horror movie with a heavy metal soundtrack and that’s pretty much the jist.

I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with the term, but the first track 8:18 is actually quite compelling and engaging from the start. It has a galloping, almost high tempo Black Sabbath vibe to it with a good pace. And this is also carried on very well into 7:54.

What’s interesting is that all of the song titles are named after the lengths of the tracks, I would imagine to give it a further soundtrack feel. As Voix is an instrumental release all of the songs blend perfectly into one another, as if Aluk Todolo wrote it as a long jam session that they eventually broke down into defined sections to make it easier to record.

However, a big drawback to this writing style and sound is that everything does become pretty same-old same-old, once fourth track 7:01 begins. And from then onwards that trend continues.

It becomes somewhat hard to differentiate what the differences between all of the tracks are when they have various movements repeating, including the same surf rock-esque guitar solo that runs through a lot of the album. If I were really baked then I could see this being a good thing, but by the end of the final (and longest) track 9:29, I don’t feel moved in any way.

Voix starts out strong, but unfortunately becomes entrenched in its own idiom and execution. However, I feel compelled to see if Aluk Todolo have any better releases in their back catalogue, so not a failure.

 Favourite Track:

8:18

Voix tack listing:

1. 8:18
2. 7:54
3. 5:01
4. 7:01
5. 5:34
6. 9:29

Voix is available now via The Anja Offensive.

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