Volbeat – God of Angels Trust
Republic/Universal Records
6,0/10,0
Brief:
Over time, artists develop formulas for success. Whether rooted in superstition, repetition, or just plain knowing what works, these practices can provide a roadmap or outline for a new project. Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen has relied on various formulas to write the songs that have earned the band more than 143 platinum and gold certifications around the globe. In addition, the Danish band has scored ten #1 songs on the Billboard Mainstream Rock airplay chart, the most ever for a band based outside North America. For their ninth album, God Of Angels Trust, Poulsen threw caution to the wind, paying little heed to traditional songwriting in the search for something more immediate and surprising.
Following his instincts reminded Poulsen of the creative process of his early Death Metal band Dominus as well as that of the early days of Volbeat. In both situations, Poulsen cobbled together songs before he understood traditional approaches for writing music.
Poulsen’s excitement to thwart convention is palpable throughout God Of Angels Trust, a punchy, crunchy album that’s undeniably Volbeat, yet marches to a fresh new metallic and melodic energy. The opening track, “Devils Are Awake,” starts with a thunderous, marching, syncopated rhythm before bursting into a punk riff that briefly yields to a choppy thrash rhythm before changing course again and injecting a melodic vocal and rich guitar harmony. From there, Volbeat rip, snarl, and spit fire, daring naysayers to criticize their unconventional arrangements.
Some of the more impulsive cuts are the heaviest on the album. “By a Monster’s Hand” is a mid-paced riff-fest with no concessions to standard meter, juxtaposing pummeling rhythms with point-counterpoint hooks. “Demonic Depression” barrels along to double-bass drums, and angular, incisive riffing, before diving into a melodic chorus. And “In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom” is a crazed marriage of nods to Johnny Cash and Black Sabbath with some meandering rhythms for extra flavor.
Poulsen started working on songs for the follow-up to 2021’s Servant of the Mind in the summer of 2024. Volbeat was taking a yearlong break from touring to give Michael a chance to recover from throat surgery and to tour with his Death Metal band, Asinhell. Driven equally by his excitement to record a new Volbeat album and by his determination not to follow convention, Poulsen worked on songs for a mere three weeks with bandmates drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. Amazingly, they worked on a new song at every rehearsal.
Three weeks into the process, Volbeat had arranged half of God Of Angels Trust. That’s when Poulsen decided that having no rules meant he could follow his muse wherever it took him, and he veered off on a different path. He and the band still wrote and rehearsed two songs a week, but they started composing more familiar Rock songs that drew from traditional elements.
From Poulsen’s more instinctual songwriting came more anthemic, tuneful, and instantly recognizable rhythms and hooks, yielding the pain-stricken elegy “Time Will Heal,” the yearning “Acid Rain,” and the edgy, haunting dreamscape “Lonely Fields.”
The band entered the studio with their longtime producer Jacob Hansen in the fall of 2024. As with the songwriting, Poulsen wanted to work quickly and rely on instinct, so they just plugged in and started to play. To keep the music sounding urgent and immediate, Volbeat recorded live in the studio, playing as few takes as possible before moving from one song to the next.
When it came time to add lead guitar, there was no question that Volbeat would tap Flemming C. Lund, who currently tours with the band and worked with Michael in Asinhell.
Just thirteen days after they started working with Hansen, Volbeat were finished.
As impressive as it is that Volbeat wrote and recorded an entire album in about five weeks, what’s more incredible is that God Of Angels Trust sounds as fleshed out, eclectic, and fulfilling as albums that have taken ten times longer (or more) to create. In the end, creating such a strong album so quickly was a tremendous challenge that demanded Zen-like calm, a joy for exploration, maximal creativity, and razor-sharp concentration to pull off.
From the chunky, muted riffing, minor-key, doom-saturated passage and skewed, off-kilter middle-eighth of “At the End of the Sirens” to the churn-n-burn progressions of “Better Be Fueled Than Tamed,” God Of Angels Trust cleans the slate of all that came before it, and sets Volbeat on new creative path. In that respect, the album is not just an experimental, creative triumph, but also a fresh beginning – a new voice from a veteran band giving birth to Satan’s spawn in a dying world of doom.
“In some ways, it feels like we’ve come full circle,” Poulsen agrees. “If you start drawing a circle over an extended period of time, eventually you’ve going to get back where you started, and that’s how I feel now. I’ve dealt with medical operations, lineup changes and all these things, and now it feels like a rebirth. It doesn’t feel like we’re doing our ninth studio album, it feels like we’re on our first album again and there’s something really refreshing about that.”
[Edited Press Release]
Tracklist:
- Devils Are Awake
- By a Monster’s Hand
- Acid Rain
- Demonic Depression
- In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom
- Time Will Heal
- Better Be Fueled than Tamed
- At the End of the Sirens
- Lonely Fields
- Enlighten the Disorder (By a Monster’s Hand Part 2)
Main Focus Tracks:
- Devils Are Awake
- By a Monster’s Hand
Other Recommended Tracks:
- Acid Rain
- Demonic Depression
- Time Will Heal
Line-Up:
Jon Larsen – Drums
Michael Poulsen – Guitars, Vocals
Kaspar Boye Larsen – Bass
Comments:
God of Angels Trust isn’t the best album Volbeat has produced to date, but it offers a few strengths that could appeal to a fairly wide audience. G.O.A.T. is a journey into the depths of the experimental.
Contact:
Video:
Selected Discography:
The Strength / The Sound / The Songs – 2005
Rock the Rebel / Metal the Devil – 2007
Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood – 2008
Beyond Hell / Above Heaven – 2010
Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies – 2013
Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie – 2016
Rewind, Replay, Rebound – 2019
Servant of the Mind – 2021
God of Angels Trust – 2025
Photo Credit: Birttany Bowman