May 30, 2007
Volbeat
the kings of danish hellbilly metal . . . wait, what?
It's not often that I hate a band right from the start. Ok, I lie, I'm a judgemental monkey-bitch-from-hell. So when a respected Monkey Guru of mine said "I'm not quite sure about these guys...", I came close to dismissing them off the bat. Two songs in, I decided they deserved at least another listen.
Turns out I love these guys.
Volbeat got together in 2001 in Copenhagen led by singer/guitarist Michael Poulsen of Denmark's staple metal band Dominus. They spent the next few years touring (opening one show for Helmet in Holland) and garnering a huge following in their native land. European metal mags were full of these guys, and the awards were piling up: "best upcoming band", "best live act 2004", and a spot on a snowboarding movie, to name a few. 2005 brought their first full-length release, "The Strength, The Sound, The Songs", reaching #18 on Denmark's Top 100. Their first record got HUGE ratings across Denmark and Germany, earning them a gig at an Anthrax after-party and a slew of music award nominations. In 2006, Poulsen got a chance to play in the studio with some of Elvis's old bandmates...that's where things got interesting.
In February 2007, Volbeat released "Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil", which in my not-so-humble opinion is the far greater of the two. Where their first LP swept the metal genre with its usual brand of quasi-metallica speedbanging noise, Rock The Rebel fuses the hellbilly twang of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Jerry Lee Lewis with the sheer shreds of Motorhead and Maiden, with a dash of Social D and maybe even a little Def Leppard. This seemingly bizarre combination is likely unlike anything you've heard before. Volbeat's metal roots show through in songs like "Mr. and Mrs. Ness", "A Moment Forever", and "You Or Them", showing off some impressive riffage and a marching snare that just won't quit. Then out of nowhere, you get "Sad Man's Tongue", a hellishly badass little diddy to the tune of "Folsom Prison Blues" (my personal favorite of the album). "Radio Girl" delves into pop-punk something like Danzig singing for the Bouncing Souls, and because they're Scandinavian, there's the epic "The Garden's Tale"; break out your lighters and brush up on your Danish for this flag-waver. Overall, "Rock The Rebel" is constant energy and larger-than-life, heavy and melodic but definitely atypical. This innovative record is by no means sophmoric.
So, my aspiring monklets, do as the Lady says: check these cats out. I dare you to hate them.
You can find Volbeat at www.volbeat.dk
also www.myspace.com/volbeat.
Turns out I love these guys.
Volbeat got together in 2001 in Copenhagen led by singer/guitarist Michael Poulsen of Denmark's staple metal band Dominus. They spent the next few years touring (opening one show for Helmet in Holland) and garnering a huge following in their native land. European metal mags were full of these guys, and the awards were piling up: "best upcoming band", "best live act 2004", and a spot on a snowboarding movie, to name a few. 2005 brought their first full-length release, "The Strength, The Sound, The Songs", reaching #18 on Denmark's Top 100. Their first record got HUGE ratings across Denmark and Germany, earning them a gig at an Anthrax after-party and a slew of music award nominations. In 2006, Poulsen got a chance to play in the studio with some of Elvis's old bandmates...that's where things got interesting. In February 2007, Volbeat released "Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil", which in my not-so-humble opinion is the far greater of the two. Where their first LP swept the metal genre with its usual brand of quasi-metallica speedbanging noise, Rock The Rebel fuses the hellbilly twang of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Jerry Lee Lewis with the sheer shreds of Motorhead and Maiden, with a dash of Social D and maybe even a little Def Leppard. This seemingly bizarre combination is likely unlike anything you've heard before. Volbeat's metal roots show through in songs like "Mr. and Mrs. Ness", "A Moment Forever", and "You Or Them", showing off some impressive riffage and a marching snare that just won't quit. Then out of nowhere, you get "Sad Man's Tongue", a hellishly badass little diddy to the tune of "Folsom Prison Blues" (my personal favorite of the album). "Radio Girl" delves into pop-punk something like Danzig singing for the Bouncing Souls, and because they're Scandinavian, there's the epic "The Garden's Tale"; break out your lighters and brush up on your Danish for this flag-waver. Overall, "Rock The Rebel" is constant energy and larger-than-life, heavy and melodic but definitely atypical. This innovative record is by no means sophmoric. So, my aspiring monklets, do as the Lady says: check these cats out. I dare you to hate them.
You can find Volbeat at www.volbeat.dk
also www.myspace.com/volbeat.