After two decades, seven previous studio albums, multi-platinum sales, and sold-out concerts across the globe, Denmark's roots
Volbeat have remained stubbornly consistent in wielding massive, power and thrash metal riffs, passionate rockabilly swagger, and punk rock attitude. Eighth album
Servant of the Mind continues their M.O. while glossing up their sonic approach (a tad) and re-emphasizing the theatrical potential in guitarist/vocalist
Michael Poulsen's songs. Again produced and mixed by longtime collaborator
Jacob Hansen,
Servant of the Mind is arguably the darkest, loudest, and heaviest album in their catalog --as well as their most accessible. Written in three months, it was recorded in three weeks.
With its roiling drumkit and bass intro, opener "Temple of Ekur" is as epic and excessive as its title. The chugging guitar riff, driving tempo, and
Poulsen's crystal clean, hooky vocals combine to make it a stadium anthem. "The Sacred Stones" commences with a massive
Black Sabbath-like dual guitar riff from
Poulsen and
Rob Caggiano, underscored by
Jon Larsen's thudding tom-toms and kick drums and
Kaspar Boye Larsen's filthy bassline.
Poulsen deliberately channels
Ronnie James Dio in his singing. What emerges is a dynamic update of Heaven and Hell's approach transformed through
Volbeat's musicality. "Shotgun Blues" is darker, edgier, and more ferocious. The guitars charge at one another with 1980s thrash metal abandon, forcing
Poulsen to climb above them. The charging drum kit and distorted bassline add ballast and textural dimension. In typical
Volbeat fashion, however, the chorus delivers an infectious lyric hook without sacrificing the heaviness. Contrast this tune with the brutal chug and burn of "Say No More," with its proggy stop-and-start bridge, double-timed drumming, and assaultive guitars. The band know how to throw curve balls, too. "Dagen Før" features a guest vocal from
Stine Bramsen of Danish pop heroes
Alphabeat.
Volbeat render it an unapologetic AOR anthem with slick, sheeny '80s production, a cruising tempo, and an irrepressible pop melody perfectly melding
Bramsen's and
Poulsen's voices. While the proceeding "The Passenger" answers with a punky '80s thrash vamp through the verse, its refrain offers the kind of pop-metal grandeur only
Volbeat and
Ghost -- and vintage
Blue Öyster Cult, of course -- are capable of summoning. "Becoming" nods at death metal as drums and bass swing under the punishing guitars but again,
Poulsen sends it over the top with a fist-pumping refrain. "Step Into Light" is horrific metallic surfabilly with a soulfully resonant vocal. Closer "Lasse's Birgitta" enters with edgy, reverbed blues and rockabilly guitar vamps before a thrashing "Paranoid"-esque riff asserts the tune's body.
Poulsen's vocal keeps the band centered even as he sings of witch burning in 15th century Sweden.
Servant of the Mind doesn't offer much in terms of change for
Volbeat. But these 13 songs, penned during a time of great global uncertainty, are wonderfully crafted, beautifully recorded, and performed with an incendiary energy. In other words, they all affirm life, fun, and better days ahead. Rock & roll can ask no more. ~ Thom Jurek