UMUR "Servant of the Mind" is the eighth full-length studio album by Danish heavy rock/metal act Volbeat. The album was released through Vertigo Records in December 2021. It´s the successor to "Rewind, Replay Rebound" from 2019. While Volbeat were a success almost immediately after the release of their debut album in 2005, they´ve gained momentum and fans in large numbers over the last couple of album releases. A US breakthrough and both tours/shows supporting major artist like Metallica and Megadeth, and their own headline tours have put them firmly on the heavy rock/metal map, and they must be counted among the most successful contemporary artists in the genre.

"Rewind, Replay Rebound" are among the most polished and melodic albums in Volbeat´s discography, and maybe the band wanted to create a more varied and heavy release this time around, because that´s exactly what "Servant of the Mind" is. It´s still melodic vers/chorus structured heavy rock/metal with sing along hooks and mainstream accessibility, but Volbeat have increased the heavy metal part of their sound on this release, which suits them well. A good example of that is album opener "Temple of Ekur", but also tracks like "The Sacred Stones", "Say No More" (which is a semi-thrashy track), and "Becoming". The 7:56 minutes long album closer "Lasse’s Birgitta" is definitely also in that catagory, featuring elements from both thrash, traditional heavy metal, and doom metal.

On the other end of the scale you have melodic mainstream oriented heavy rockers like "Wait a Minute my Girl" and "Dagen Før" (featuring female guest vocals by Danish singer Stine Bramsen). The 50s rock´n´roll part of the band´s sound isn´t that dominant on this album, and is mainly heard on "Wait a Minute my Girl" and "The Devil Rages On". The album features a couple of less memorable tracks, but they are very few, and they aren´t as such filler material. Just not as great as the best material on the album. There´s also room for a little experimentation on a track like "Step Into Light", which opens with a section, which sounds a lot like something off an Alchemist album (Australian metal act). Almost all tracks on the album share one defining feature though and that´s strong and memorable anthemic choruses, so even though some tracks are relatively heavy and sharp edged, Volbeat master the skill writing heavy but memorable material.

"Servant of the Mind" features a sharp, detailed, and powerful sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. Michael Poulsen´s distinct sounding voice and strong vocals are the focus of the music and they are placed high in the mix, but "Servant of the Mind" is produced in a way to also give room and spotlight to the guitars, drums, and bass. To my ears it´s a well balanced production job, and one of the better and more heavy sounding albums in the most recent part of the band´s discography. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog 2021’s Servant Of The Mind is Danish Rock/Metal band Volbeat’s eight studio album, it was produced by Jacob Hansen (with Michael & Rob from the band) and follows up 2019’s Rewind, Replay, Rebound album.

I first got into the band after seeing them live on the cycle for Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie, and fell in love instantly, then devouring their back catalogue and becoming obsessed, listening to them more in one year than it takes me a decade to listen to most other bands, but when it finally came time for me to get in on the ground floor with a new release; 2019’s Rewind’ was a bit of a disappointment for me (especially at first, but to be fair it was a grower), as it initially felt like it was missing a lot of the charm, variety and quirkiness of their earlier work, and also was significantly less heavy or metallic than my favourite side of Volbeat’s many sided style. For me, Rewind’ leaned much too heavily on the band’s radio rock side. That’s always been a part of their sound – but not the whole sound, and to me Rewind’ just focused on it too deeply, too often.

Servant Of The Mind by contrast seems to be very conscious that the previous album was a bit too far away from their metal side, and is a pretty hard and deliberate course-correct towards heaviness. There is much more speed, power, groove, crunch, umph, tiny bits of Thrash-esque moments here and there, even one cheeky Death Metal riff hidden in there once.

Tracks like “Becoming,” feel built for fans who like the band’s heavier material (think “Slaytan”), while “The Devil Rages On,” “Step Into The Light” and “Say No More” more than make up for the previous album’s lighter touch. Heck, “The Sacred Stones” seems to be a deliberate tribute to Black Sabbath’s “Heaven And Hell.” In addition to Metal though, they’ve also always had a bouncy punk tinge at times, and “The Passenger” covers that side of them as well.

While I may be banging on a bit too much about the metal; Volbeat have never been entirely all about heaviness – it is an important part of the puzzle, and it is nice to see it get enough focus again, but it is only part of the bigger picture. For those fans who like the bigger, catchier moments, the album does still have some nice radio rock moments, for example the single “Dagen Før” (featuring Alphabeat’s Stine Bramsen doing guest vocals) covers that kind of “Cape Of Our Heroes” or “Last Day Under The Sun” melodic vibe, and the choruses of even some of the heavier tracks lean into big American radio rock at times (its still there, its just blended better on this album).

Volbeat have also always had a fun side, and while I sort of make it sound like I didn’t like their previous album, it certainly had its great moments. This record takes some of those great moments and builds upon them. Single “Wait A Minute My Girl” has a jaunty saxophone solo, kind of like the fun “Die To Live” from the previous record, while “Step Into The Light” with its reverby twisted surf-rock guitar lead feels like a sequel to the previous album’s “Sorry Sack Of Bones.”

Now, while I have spent most of the review describing the album’s stylistic decisions, being heavy, or melodic, or bouncy or fun is pretty pointless if the album isn’t actually good. Luckily, the material is really strong. There are riffs that will stick in your head for days, choruses you’ll be dying to sing along to, memorable fills and a very clear production job. More than three quarters of the album I want to see live, I’m spoiled for choice over which songs I’d include in a best-of compilation or playlist.

While I wouldn’t make an argument that it is their all time best album, it is certainly in the top half of their discography, pleasantly surprising, and I would whole heartedly recommend it.

Ps. If you can, try and get the edition with the bonus tracks, the extra cover songs are brilliant!