VOLBEAT — Servant of the Mind (review)

VOLBEAT — Servant of the Mind album cover

Album · 2021 · Heavy Metal

4/5 · 2025-02-04
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.