VOLBEAT — Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil (review)

VOLBEAT — Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil album cover Album · 2007 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Danish heavy metal act Volbeat. The album was released through Mascot Records in February 2007. While "The Strength/The Sound/The Songs (2005)" certainly put Volbeat on the map, especially in Denmark, "Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil" was a genuine breakthrough for the band, who could now hear the track "The Garden's Tale" being played to death on the Danish national radiostation P3. Things began to stir internationally too though and all in all "Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil" was a both a great commercial and artistic success for Volbeat.

The band has expanded on their heavy metal meets 50s rock´n´roll style and also given it a bit more polish (read: much better sound production than the case was on the debut album) and generally more diversity too. A compact tracklist with only 11 tracks compared to the 15 track monster of a debut album, is also a successful move to my ears. While not all tracks on the album stand out equally much (the two closing tracks "You or them" and "Boa (JDM)" are examples of the least memorable tracks), there are less filler than on the debut and that´s greatly appreciated. There are some really strong tracks on the album like the above mentioned "The Garden's Tale" (which features a guest appearance by Johan Olsen from Magtens Korridorer, who delivers some vocal lines in Danish), the opening track "The Human Instrument", "Devil or the Blue Cat's Song" and the Johnny Cash inspired "Sad Man's Tongue". The band have generally become much better at incorporating the 50s rock´n´roll sound into their brand of the heavy metal. However the basis in the music is still strongly influenced by early- to mid nineties Metallica with an added groove based element.

The band are very well playing and I especially hear a really positive development with Michael Poulsen´s vocal delivery.

"Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil" is a strong sophomore release by Volbeat and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
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