Volbeat‘s hook-heavy fusion of Rock and Roll and Metal continues apace with G.O.A.T (Republic/Universal) – not a reference to Ronaldo or Messi but rather God Of Angels Trust. This is their ninth record and it follows in the footsteps of predecessor Servant of the Mind – but much heavier. 

Taking just 13 days to make and recorded live, this is a raw, energetic, and instinctive record. G.O.A.T bursts out of the blocks with “Devils Are Awake,” a brutal Thrash Metal-inspired number steeped in evil imagery and, of course, home to some soaring harmonies. “Demonic Depression” is a wondrous brute of a song, a thick wall of metallic fury that barrels along at an impressive lick. With its talk of monsters, decapitations, and rotten flesh and a thunderous Black Album-like groove, “By a Monster’s Hand” is another gem. 

This is still a Volbeat album through and through, no reinvention here. Frontman Michael Poulsen’s instinctual, unrestrained songwriting approach is brought to life by the live production values. The pithily titled “In The Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom” shines brightest, starting off as a gentle country jaunt before morphing into a stomping monster with nay a shiny chorus in sight. 

There is still a touch of arena rock to proceedings, which yields mixed results – the run-of-the-mill radio ballad “Time Will Heal” with Poulsen’s rather apt plea of “accepting the good with the low” will not linger long. Whilst still middle of the road, “Acid Rain” is a much sweeter mix of the melodic and the melancholic. The records’ better qualities soon return in tracks like “Better Be Fueled Than Tamed,” a no-nonsense slab of eighties Metal that is over in a flash and rekindles memories of The Big 4. 

This record is at its fiery best when it is hitting you with hard and heavy slabs of Metal, and it does that very well. 

Buy the album here:
https://volbeat.lnk.to/GOAT

8 / 10
THOMAS THROWER
Follow Tom’s work here: