Get down on your hands and knees and pray to the Gods of Metal, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and hair pomade. Welcome to the world of Volbeat . Their latest release “Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil” is one of those cds that has you feeling baptized by a new sound. As the best thing to come out of Denmark since Hamlet, Volbeat formed in 2001 yet their echo is far more mature on this release than their “age” would have you thinking.
Topping the Danish album charts as the first metal album/ best- selling album, Volbeat‘s “Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil “ somehow manages to combine Rockabilly and Metal in such a way that you wonder why it hasn’t been done all along. While the band is as tight as they come, lead singer, Michael Poulsen, has an atypical and astonishing signature tonal quality to his vocals that is a faultless and impeccable instrument for well crafted lyrics and the banjo meets Beelzebub sound that flows through the entire cd. Jon Larsen – Drums, Anders Kjølholm – Bass and Thomas Bredahl on Guitar provide an Anthrax/Metallica barrage of resonance that grabs you from the gut and never sets you free for 11 tracks.
And that’s ok. You won’t want to be released in any case.
Finally, “Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil” is a tour de force that very well may find its place in the Metal Hall of Fame.
Johnny Cash and Layne Staley must be proud.
5 Stars
