Author: Sebastijan Videc
Artist: Volbeat
Label: Vertigo Records
Release: numbers
Length: 58:29
Rating: 4/5
When it comes to Volbeat, comparing them to the biological term biodiversity wouldn’t be far from the truth. That goes double for their latest album, Outlaw Gangsters and Shady Ladies. They’ve been known for mixing rock, metal, country and rockabilly, but on their most diverse record yet they’ve thrown thrash and pop into the pot too, and seasoned the whole thing in their own style with the kind of melodies that burrow into the part of the brain that keeps them whistling in your head long after you’ve heard them. The album is so stacked that the guys will have a hard time picking singles. What some will call a leap into more mainstream waters will surely bring the band extra listeners and cement their place on the scene.
The new member has surely had a hand in the novelties on the album too. Before recording, the Danes asked Anthrax’s former lead guitarist, Rob Caggiano, to co-produce the album. During the sessions the chemistry between Rob and the rest of the band got so good that he became a permanent member. The melody of his solos runs through the whole record, and I’m convinced he also added to the thrash rhythms on a few tracks.
The instrumental intro, »Let’s Shake Some Dust« promises a lot – acoustic guitars with steel strings and a Mexican-flavored melody conjure up a raw sound that neither Danny Trejo as Machette nor Clint Eastwood in any of his legendary westerns would turn down as a backdrop. You’d expect the album to carry on in that vein, but sadly “Pearl Hart” serves up a classic Volbeat bouncer on a platter, which sure gets under your skin right away, but after an intro like that I was expecting something heavier. A similar story continues with “The Nameless One”. In my humble opinion, “Dead But Rising” would have kicked the album off better after the intro, with its heavier metal riffs, and in the chorus Poulsen’s classic vocal lines are nicely complemented by Caggiano’s guitar. After a relatively calm start, the ballad “Cape of Our Hero” had me starting to fear the Danes were losing their edge.
And then “Room 24” happens, one of the album’s highlights – a duet with Danish metal icon and probably the highlight of this year’s Metaldays festival, King Diamond. Female backing vocals, a creepy melody, verses traded between Poulsen’s melodic vocals and King’s shrieking, plus a heavy guitar backdrop conjure up a touch of classic horror that’s uncharacteristic for Volbeat (and so much more characteristic for King). The fast “The Hangman’s Body Count” superbly continues the goings-on in room 24, as creepy in sound as in lyrics. I’m surprised “My Body”, a cover of a hit by American indie rock band Young the Giant, landed in the middle of the album, since given that it’s a cover and a pure pop track, it would have made far more sense at the end of the album or even on the deluxe edition as bonus material. Luckily, “Lola Montez” fixes the taste right away – a classic rock’n’roll dance hit about the 19th-century dancer of the same name, who was, among other things, court dancer to the Bavarian king Ludwig I, but emigrated to the USA after the German revolutions of 1848, where she carried on with provocative dance performances.
In “Black Bart” Larsen shows off his drumming chops, as it’s the fastest track on the album, with Rob countering on guitar. Poulsen sings the second duet with Canadian Sarah Blackwood on “Lonesome Rider”. It’s a bouncy rockabilly number where her excellent voice is complemented by the Dane’s Elvis-style intonation, and the multi-voice chorus simply gets under your skin. While the third-interval guitar lines on “The Sinner Is You” grab you on first listen, the whole song comes off pretty pale and feels more like filler than a quality piece of work. “Doc Holiday” with its thrash riffs is a real treat for the ears, Poulson lifts his vocals to Hatfield level, and the banjo in the chorus adds a pure bonus – truly one of the better tracks on this album and the band’s career overall. The ballad “Our Loved Ones” is the ideal closer – gorgeous guitar melodies combined with acoustic guitar and harmonica-led harmonies in the intro on top, evoking comparisons with Morricone’s work, while Caggiano’s solos and passages round out the whole.
With their latest effort Volbeat prove they’re no flash in the pan and that they can add even more genres to an already interesting mix, but in a way that makes it all extremely listenable and catchy. The album’s biggest flaw is that it’s too long – at fourteen tracks, the listener sometimes gets a sense of repetition, and it wouldn’t have been hard to place a few tracks as bonuses on singles or the deluxe edition. And speaking of the deluxe edition – it has an interesting track, Ecotone, which with its thrash metal rhythms I’d swap in a heartbeat for one of the album’s lukewarm songs. If you like a mix of Elvis, Cash with Metallica or Mercyful Fate and love to get down to rock’n’roll rhythms, then this album is made for you – pour yourself a glass (of pickled pepper jar, just so there’s no confusion) of moonshine and crank Volume up to MAX on your music player!
Lineup
Michael Poulsen – vocals, guitar
Rob Caggiano – guitar
Anders Kjølholm – bass guitar
Jon Larsen – drums
Production
Jacob Hansen, Rob Caggiano, Volbeat
Tracklist
01. Let’s shake some dust
02. Pearl hart
03. The nameless one
04. Dead but rising
05. Cape of our hero
06. Room 24
07. The Hangman’s body count
08. My body
09. Lola Montez
10. Black Bart
11. Lonesome rider
12. The sinner is you
13. Doc Holliday
14. Our Loved Ones
