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VOLBEAT
God Of Angels Trust
Republic/Universal

Horns!
Halos!
How to write a song without a chorus!

Over time, artists develop many formulas for success. Whether rooted in superstition, repetition, or just plain knowing what works, these practices can provide a roadmap or outline for a new project. VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen has relied on various formulas to write the songs that have earned the band more than 143 platinum and gold certifications around the globe. In addition, the Danish band has scored ten #1 songs on the Billboard Mainstream Rock airplay chart, the most ever for a band based outside North America. For their ninth album, the cleverly-titled and initialed God Of Angels Trust, aka G.O.A.T., Poulsen threw caution to the wind, paying little heed to traditional songwriting in the search for something more immediate and surprising.

"In the past, I've taken a long time to write and obsessed over so many elements of the songs before finishing them," he explains. "This time, I wanted to make a VOLBEAT record without thinking too much about it. Instead of following any kind of structure, I said, 'Okay, there are no rules. I can do anything I want. I can start with a chorus or do songs that are just a bunch of verses stacked on top of each other. Anything goes.' That was freeing for me and made it exciting to write this album."

Following his instincts reminded Poulsen of the creative process of his early death metal band DOMINUS as well as that of VOLBEAT's own early days. In both situations, Poulsen cobbled together songs before he understood traditional approaches for writing music. "Back in the day, I didn't really think about 'this part is the chorus, this part is the bridge,'" says Poulsen, "It was all about creating lots of great riffs and then putting drums and vocals on top. It worked then and still works now."

Poulsen's excitement to thwart convention is palpable throughout God Of Angels Trust, a punchy, crunchy album that's undeniably VOLBEAT, yet marches to a fresh new metallic and melodic energy. The opening track, "Devils Are Awake", starts with a thunderous, marching, syncopated rhythm before bursting into a punk riff that briefly yields to a choppy thrash rhythm before changing course again and injecting a melodic vocal and rich guitar harmony. From there, VOLBEAT rip, snarl, and spit fire, daring naysayers to criticize their unconventional arrangements.

Some of the more impulsive cuts are actually the heaviest on the album. "By A Monster's Hand" is a mid-paced riff-fest with no concessions to standard meter, juxtaposing pummeling rhythms with point-counterpoint hooks. "Demonic Depression" barrels along to double-bass drums, and angular, incisive riffing, before diving into a melodic chorus. And the creatively-titled "In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan's Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom" is a crazed marriage of subtle nods to JOHNNY CASH and BLACK SABBATH with some wild meandering rhythms for extra flavor. "That's the first song I came up with when I said, 'let's set fire to the rule book and avoid any normal sort of structure,'" Poulsen says, "I thought, 'let's just have some really cool riffs where the essence of the song should be. And since there's no chorus, why not have a really cool line that becomes the climax of the lyrics and is also the song title?' That way when you play it live, people are waiting to sing along with that crazy line, 'In/ the Barn/ of/ the Goat/ Giving/ Birth/ to Satan's Spawn in a Dying World of Doom!' It just makes everything more fun for us and the audience."

Other particular gems on this album showcasing VOLBEAT's musical paradigm shift include the catchy, new wave-sounding, pain-stricken elegy "Time Will Heal", the yearning "Acid Rain", and the edgy, haunting dreamscape "Lonely Fields" amongst the chunky, muted riffing, minor-key, doom-saturated passage and skewed, off-kilter middle-eighth of "At The End Of the Sirens" and the churn-n-burn progressions of "Better Be Fueled Than Tamed".

Poulsen started working on songs for the follow-up to 2021's Servant Of The Mind in the summer of 2024. VOLBEAT was taking a yearlong break from touring to give Michael a chance to recover from throat surgery and to tour with his death metal band, ASINHELL. Driven equally by his excitement to record a new VOLBEAT album and by his determination not to follow convention, Poulsen worked on songs for a mere three weeks with bandmates drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. Amazingly, they worked on a new song at every rehearsal. The band entered the studio with their longtime producer Jacob Hansen in the fall of 2024. As with the songwriting, Poulsen wanted to work quickly and rely on instinct, so they just plugged in and started to play. To keep the music sounding urgent and immediate, VOLBEAT recorded live in the studio, playing as few takes as possible before moving from one song to the next. When it came time to add lead guitar, there was no question that VOLBEAT would tap Flemming C. Lund, who currently tours with the band and worked with Michael in ASINHELL.

The end result from all of this meticulous planning on God Of Angels Trust would be perhaps the most multi-faceted album in VOLBEAT's catalogue, which even Poulsen himself has likened to the band recording their first album. Yet, whether the band's ninth album represents pointed animal instinct or heavenly inspiration in its title, any time that an established band like VOLBEAT can find its full circumference is worth dropping the horns about.

4.5 Out Of 5.0

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