VOLBEAT – Servant Of The Mind [Limited Deluxe Edition] (2021)

We never have been big fans of rockers VOLBEAT but… their upcoming new album “Servant Of The Mind [Limited Deluxe Edition]” is about to change that.
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine this album is a car. It’s not just any motor – surrounded by devil girls and zombie dudes you’re in an open-topped ​’62 Cadillac; all fins, flames and chrome. This latest offering from a rejuvenated Volbeat, surely the Danish superstars’ best, is like stepping straight into a Vince Ray cartoon.

Frontman Michael Poulsen wrote this entire album during lockdown. Something must have happened to him during that strange time of isolation – a bite from a radioactive spider perhaps, or a whiplash from a ghostly, tattooed lady in leather.
Volbeat – eight albums into a multi-platinum career – have nothing left to prove, and it’d be simple enough to endlessly re-write fan-favourites. They’ve done nothing of the sort.

Never before have Michael and fellow guitarist Rob Caggiano locked into their riffing with such controlled ferocity, and never before have the songs leapt from the page to the speakers with such creative zest.
It’s pointless to pick on individual titles; the guitar duo deliver maximum thrill throughout. Then, with ‘The Devil Rages On’, the band summon some dark soul of underworld psychobilly, but amp it up so it’s leering into your 21st century face. Something ancient and awesome lurks in ‘The Sacred Stones’ and ‘Temple of Ekur’, and while ‘Say No More’ offers a clear salute to Metallica​’s Jump In The Fire, it’s still very much it’s own boss.
This is Volbeat alright, but not as we know them.

Meanwhile, “Dagen Før” (featuring Stine Bramsen of Danish pop giants Alphabeat) is an unapologetic AOR banger, replete with made-for-radio, ’80s production sheen. Almost indecently catchy and yet still powered by Volbeat’s vision of electrified rock ‘n’ roll, it would have been a giant chart smash 40 years ago and may yet achieve that fate today.
Among the bonus there’s another version of “Dagen Før” sung by singer Michael Poulsen alone, even more melodic rock than the previous.

Rarely has such a successful band sounded so ravenous. These leather seats are comfy, but the devil’s at the wheel.
Highly Recommended

01 – Temple Of Ekur
02 – Wait A Minute My Girl
03 – The Sacred Stones
04 – Shotgun Blues
05 – The Devil Rages On
06 – Say No More
07 – Heaven’s Descent
08 – Dagen Før feat Stine Bramsen
09 – The Passenger
10 – Step Into Light
11 – Becoming
12 – Mindlock
13 – Lasse’s Birgitta
14 – Return To None [Bonus Disc]
15 – Domino [Bonus Disc]
16 – Shotgun Blues feat Dave Matrise [Bonus Disc]
17 – Dagen Før (Michael Vox Version) [Bonus Disc]
18 – Don’t Tread On Me [Digital Bonus]

Michael Poulsen – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Jon Larsen – drums
Rob Caggiano – lead guitar, backing vocals
Kaspar Boye Larsen – bass, backing vocals

Pre order:
www.amazon.de/-/en/dp/B09DN1FJ5T