Get Possessed by the Voodoomen

Rave-goth. Industrial dance. Tech-metal. Power electronica. By any name, it’s the music that sneaked into the mainstream via post-industrial powerhouses like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. It’s the music that inspired clothing trends that made parents cringe and black lipstick popular again. Most importantly, it’s the music that updated heavy metal for the 21^st century.

And now, the hard-rocking, ear-splitting, techno-infused sound has found its way down to Argentina.

Despite the labels and connotations, Gabriel Mateos, guitarist for the Argentinean band Voodoomen, regards the genre his group fits into as just "rock-- rock with machines," he says.

The "machines" are synthesizers, samplers, and computers, which join the traditional hard rock staples of jagged, distortion-laced guitar, heavy bass lines, and fast, pounding drums. Their sound pounds with ass-kicking, head-banging intensity that will have you possessed as the Voodoomen name implies.

The electrified instrumentation from guitarist Mateos along with drummer Horacio Herrerra is coupled with singer and principal songwriter Gustavo Esnaeola’s dark, aggressive vocal musings. The Voodoomen’s music is more than a high-energy dance beat, dramatic melodies, and a tsunami of distortion. Esnaeola’s Spanish and English lyrics often focus on religion, death, frustration, philosophical questions, and pain. The dark thoughts that swim around Esnaeola’s mind pulse along with the vigorous beats and melodic lines tweaked to perfection in Mateos’ home studio.

In the song "Come to Me," Esnaeola explores devotion to religious saviors. As an unearthly synthetic wind blows in the background, a storm of rough guitars wails to a throbbing beat. An anguished Esnaeola sings, "A neon crown on the ragged man’s head / The king of all this human misery is back on earth / Preaching words from an unwritten bible / Come to me now." A demonic voice urges, "Come to me right now."

When I spoke with Mateos in a recent phone interview, I asked him about the inspiration for the Voodoomen’s dark lyrics and intense sound.

Mateos said Esnaeola’s lyrics reflect the fact that he is extremely well read in both English and Spanish, and often reads about other cultures and philosophies. It was through his readings, in fact, that the band came to be known as the Voodoomen.

"Gustavo likes to read dark stuff, but he's not a voodoo guy," said Mateos. "He likes to read about different cultures and different stuff and he read about voodoo. We made a song called ‘Voodoomen.’ We started to record songs in my studio without a name, and we thought maybe we could call the band Voodoo. But Voodoo is a naked word, so we changed it to Voodoomen like our song."

In the song "Voodoomen," Esnaeola chants over powerful keyboard lines, "I dress like the voodoomen / Now I feel like the voodoomen / Sex’s the beautiful devil’s dance / Dirge / Chameleons changing with the sunrise / Some excuses to justify this chemical mortal ride."

Sometimes Esnaeola’s English phrasings are rough, but the meaning is never lost.

Their mix of strong dance beats and dark lyrics arranged with heavy metal methodology can be linked to influences like Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and The Cure, to some extent. "I love heavy music, dark bands," Mateos said. "Gustavo has a bigger spectrum."

The group is also inspired by movies and pop culture, sometimes infusing the evocative samples from films and CDs directly into their music. In the beginning of "Love/Hate Song," for example, the crying voice is taken from a scene in Born on the Fourth of July. (Note: As of this writing, the group is working to get samples cleared and clearances are pending).

"When we were making that song, we thought we needed something in the beginning," Mateos explained. "We put in the piano sample: a descending line of notes. But it sounded naked. So we added the sample."

The sample leads the listener into the antithesis of a love song—hence the name "Love/Hate Song." Esnaeola commands, "I wish you all my fears / I wish you all my pain / I wish you my regrets / I wish you my own life."

The band has recorded one album thus far, a self-titled do-it-yourself endeavor produced in Mateos’s home studio. Theresa Aldao, the band’s domestic manager, is currently looking at two labels who are considering releasing the new 14-song CD as a joint venture.

The Voodoomen began as a side project, born out of two Argentinean heavy metal outfits, Boixos Nois and Abaxial. Four years ago, they dropped their other two bands entirely to pursue the Voodoomen’s more industrial, electronically-altered, heavy music full time.

The song "If I Die or Live," Mateos said, marks a turning point in the Voodoomen’s history. In the song, Esnaeola sings to their signature synthesizer-laden, hard sound, "I can’t take my shame / In the darkness lives the same man / If I die or live, I can’t forget all what I have been."

Mateos explained that Voodoomen "have had two different times with the band. We started to play four years ago and we made eight songs. We tried to give those eight songs a concept. When we recorded more songs one year later, we said we needed a different point of view for the band. We started to make these new songs and ‘If I Die or Live’ was the first song of this new Voodoomen era. It's more melodic, with the melody of the voices. We tried to give more expression to Gustavo’s voice. It's the beginning of the change of Voodoomen music."

The group has traveled far and wide to bring the "Voodoomen music" out of their native Argentina. Their domestic management group Strictly Heavy arranged a couple of East Coast tours in the United States, during which their music was received with much acclaim from audiences and club owners alike.

In our phone conversation, Mateos explained the difference between the audiences in Argentina and abroad. "In Argentina, if people know the music and know the band, it's great. In the United States, it's different. If you're a musician they respect that. And if they've never heard you, they show you gratitude. They respect you and they support you. You feel really great because you’re new in a new country and a new city to new people. That's great."

Theresa Aldao of Strictly Heavy Management started backing the Voodoomen immediately upon hearing them perform in Argentina. Their greatest strength, she agrees, is their ability to catch on with new audiences. "This band appeals to all different kinds of music lovers," Aldao says. "It has hard rock grooves and it’s danceable-- the best of both worlds."

"It's music for the people," Mateos said. "We live in Buenos Aires. We are guys who live in a great big city, almost like New York or Sao Paolo. It’s so big and you are so small. You feel like nothing sometimes. It’s music for the city."

Promotional demo tapes of the Voodoomen's music can be obtained for free from Strictly Heavy Management by email at stricthvy@aol.com.