Disco de Volbeat: “Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil”

Volbeat's Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil is the most fun and original metal I've heard in a very long time. I love this cd. Not a single filler track on the entire thing! Buy it. You won't be sorry.

I also purchased their last cd The Strength/The Sound/ The Songs and it too is very good. It's a little more raw and heavy than this cd, but a great find none the less. Check it out if you can.

Ican't wait to hear what they come out with next. They use multiple musical styles and don't limit themselves to one genre.

This may be my favorite disc of theirs, alot of this content is found on their "sold out" dvd which was my introduction to this band... Their beats and rhythms are fantastic, drummer is a beast (IMO)Michaels vocal stylings are very original and make this band stand out from all others...TURN IT UP!!!!!

Danish metal band Dominus had been kicking around for several years before they decided to merge elements of metal and rockabilly and rename themselves Volbeat. Their debut album

was well received, but it was 2007's Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil that served as Volbeat's breakthrough album. It's a perfect example of the band's unique sound, which comes across as the unlikely marriage of Metallica, Motorhead, Social Distortion and Johnny Cash.

Everything that made The Strength/The Sound/The Songs such an unforgettable debut is present here, but Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil was still a huge step forward for Volbeat. The huge guitar riffing, ridiculously catchy, rockabilly-inspired melodies and Michael Poulsen's powerful, distinctive Elvis-inspired vocals are all measurably more effective this time around, and the band's songwriting is just flawless. You can go down the track list and find one classic song after another. From the relentlessly heavy "The Human Instrument" to the melodic and completely captivating "Radio Girl" and "The Garden's Tale" to the Johnny Cash tribute "Sad Man's Tongue" - to this day no Volbeat live set seems complete if these songs aren't played.

Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil was Volbeat's breakthrough album, and beyond that it's simply one of the most exciting metal albums the decade had to offer. The best part is that the band's follow-up album

is even better than this album, and that album's follow-up

is even better than that! If you're into hard rock, heavy metal, punk, or any combination of the three, you owe it to yourself to experience Volbeat.

PS - Volbeat has been touring the US pretty relentlessly in recent years. If you have the opportunity to catch one of their shows, do not pass it by. It is an amazing experience.

Volbeat create catchy, energetic songs with plenty of metal riffery. It's as if someone replaced your bowl of Captain Crunch with lugnuts. The songs run the gamut from testosterone-fueled rock to corrosive blues to mournful ballads. An abundance of melodic rhythms makes up for a relative absence of guitar solos, and purist head-bangers will be happy to know that there isn't a single keyboard note to be found on the CD. The unique singer resembles a cross between James Hetfield and Elvis Presley. He has a twangy, resonant voice that sounds filtered through a skein of chocolate pudding. Or maybe his vocal chords are capable of vibrating like a tuning fork. All I know is I relish his voice and find myself laughing when he belts out rapid-fire vocals, such as in "Sad Man's Tongue." The songs are pretty simplistic, without much experimentation, but they are also delightfully concise and accomplish precisely what you want in a metal album: get your foot stomping and your head a'wagging. I definitely wouldn't classify this as progressive rock, but it is an album full of straightforward rock classics with some nice acoustic guitar thrown in for variety.