Kingcrimsonprog
My whole Summer this year has been about Volbeat. I started off with Outlaw Gentlemen’ and moved on to Seal The Deal’ and the next album I got was 2010’s Beyond Hell/Above Heaven as a very appreciated birthday gift.
The album is notably less slick, sheened and stadium sized than the two albums that followed it, but is on the way there. There is some really heavy material on here, such as ‘7 Shots’ and ‘Evelyn’ which have guest appearances from Kreator’s Mille Petroza and Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway respectively. The best song on the album in my opinion is undoubtedly the muscular groove metal track, ‘A Warrior’s Call’ which is totally crushing and memorable, a real fist pumping song if ever there was one. The chorus even sports the line ‘Let’s Get Ready To Rumble.’
Its not all heaviness though, Volbeat are famously diverse. The catchy single ’16 Dollars’ for example sounds like country music was the prime influence, and ‘Magic Zone’ could be a Green Day song. Its a very interesting album in that regard. There’s several songs that could be by totally different bands but somehow it all flows together seamlessly.
The album closer ‘Thanks’ is pretty noteworthy, sounding as it does a bizarre mixture of Rancid, Metallica and the theme tune from King Of The Hill. Its memorable ‘woah-oh-ah-oh’ lines and lyrics about being in Volbeat make for one seriously entertaining listen.
As with all the band’s albums I’ve tried so far, you can listen to it over and over again. A long drive or a week of commuting can be pleasantly enlivened with this record on repeat. If you have any interest in the band, don’t delay, get up on this and get ready to smile.