Using music as a way to process, to heal and to grow as a human, New Zealand’s Voodoo Bloo has created a powerful collection of furious rock music in his debut album, Jacobus.
A nine track studio album that has been born out of dark times for Voodoo Bloo (aka Wellington songwriter and musician Rory McDonald), Jacobus is an album of twists and turns, a narrative rollercoaster driven by emotion and urgency.
Featuring singles ‘Ha Ha Ok Ok’ and ‘MMA’, Jacobus is relentless in its fusion of percussion and heavy guitars, while vocals soar throughout leaving little to no room for breath.
An emotional album to record, Jacobus is a tribute album of sorts, a way for Voodoo Bloo’s Rory McDonald to deal with grief and mourning.
“In all honesty, it took some major events in my life to create a lot of the material you hear on there, but it’s without a doubt some of the most truthful things I’ve ever said, and it really feels like it captures a moment in time that I never want to relive, but promise to remember for the rest of my life. This is the most passion I’ve put into anything, and when shifting through the final mixes I finally felt like I could put some stored up emotion to rest.” Voodoo Bloo
Jacobus has its moments of intimacy and nuance, with tracks like ‘Homebody’ and ‘9th Of July, 2019’ providing moments of reflection and memorialising on Voodoo Bloo’s part.
They act as great contrast to the punishing sounds of ‘Her Name Was Human’ and ‘Lost Connection’, two album highlights that are demonstrative of Voodoo Bloo’s great musicality and instrumentation.
For Voodoo Bloo, the making of Jacobus was a cathartic experience and you can hear it in his voice as the album closes. While the listener becomes introduced to this young artist with his heart on his sleeve, Jacobus is a way for Voodoo Bloo to confront and move on from a very painful time in his life.