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

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.

Kim

[...]

I heard Volbeat on Sirius for the first time back in January. I am completely into heavy/black/death/thrash metal, although i dabble in a little bit of everything. When I first heard VB, I have to admit that I was not sold. The second song I heard the last week of February was The Human Instrument. This song made me dive head first into what VB has to offer. A few days later I downloaded Rock the Rebel album and have been impressed ever since. I love the sound the group has. It's heavy yet has a punk blast feel to it on some songs. The track Sad Man's Tongue just kicks A$$ all the way. From the start of sounding like a country Elvis/Johnny Cash tune, to exploding with a kick-your-a$$ punk attitude and heavy-as-hell feel. You are missing some excellent music if you don't take the time to listen to Volbeat. They definitely have something to appease the metal palate.

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.

A refreshing change from all the so called new metal/hard rock out there today! At a time where all the new music of this type is either overshadowed by a screaming banshee singer or someone who sounds like they have guttural laryngitis Volbeat is definitely a welcome breath of fresh air! Nice upbeat tempo to most of this CD and very tight musicianship. Lots of "crunchy" guitar work reminiscent of Metallica's Black CD to Reload days throughout. "Radio Girl" is a nice tribute to the 50's and I love the country intro to "Sad Man's Tongue" For an adrenaline rush "Devil or the Blue Cat's Song" "A Moment Forever" or "You or Them" will do it for you. I was surprised that I liked this CD as much as I did because Volbeat doesn't seem to care about guitar solos. Singer Poulsen has a unique flavor to his singing that is, yes, kind of like old Elvis but on a speed rush. The band is out touring Europe right now and I hope someday to see them live in the U.S. Check out this CD and play it through a few times. It takes a few plays to fully appreciate the different approach Volbeat takes but you'll quickly become a fan like I did.

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.