VOLBEAT, those Danish rockabilly dudes who still think it’s 2005, have dropped a music video for “Demonic Depression”. Yes, you read that right. It’s off their new album, “God Of Angels Trust”, which, get this, is OUT TODAY (Friday, June 6th). How groundbreaking! 🎉 It’s available via VOLBEAT‘s label Vertigo/Universal, because apparently, someone still believes in them.
According to Michael Poulsen, the guy who sings and strums (or whatever he does), “‘Demonic Depression’ is about my friend’s bad mood.” 🥺 Wow, so deep, Michael. He even played it for other friends who were like, “OMG, is this about ME?” Classic case of everyone thinking they’re the center of the universe. 🙄 Guess mental health is the new black? 🖤
Poulsen continues, “It’s about some heavy mental issues, so I guess the message is pretty universal.” Yeah, because nothing screams “universal” like a Danish rock band singing about feelings. 🗣️ He also said, “Depression is so all-consuming, and it affects so many people, and the best way to help someone struggling with it is to talk to them and listen what they have to say.” Groundbreaking advice, Michael! 🤯 I bet no one has ever thought of that before. 🤦♂️
With “God Of Angels Trust”, these Danes are really shaking things up… by ignoring everything that made them mildly popular in the first place. They’ve “thrown caution to the wind” (translation: ran out of ideas), “ignored comfort zones” (translation: tried something new and failed), and “paid little heed to traditional songwriting” (translation: made a mess). 🗑️ But hey, at least VOLBEAT‘s “dedicated legion of fans” (read: their moms and a few confused metalheads) will be thrilled. 🤷♂️
Poulsen claims, “In the past, I’ve taken a long time to write and obsessed over so many elements of the songs before finishing them.” Yeah, we could tell. 😴 “This time, I wanted to make a VOLBEAT record without thinking too much about it.” Mission accomplished, buddy! 🎯 “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.” Translation: “I got lazy and decided to phone it in.” 📞
Poulsen‘s “excitement to thwart convention” (aka his inability to write a decent song) is totally obvious on “God Of Angels Trust”. It’s “punchy” (loud), “crunchy” (poorly mixed), and “undeniably VOLBEAT” (still sounds like a bad Elvis impersonation). 🎤 But hey, it marches to a “fresh new metallic and melodic energy” (aka it’s slightly different, but still awful). 🤢
Apparently, Poulsen started writing this masterpiece in the summer of 2024. VOLBEAT took a year off touring so Michael could recover from throat surgery and play with his death metal band ASINHELL (because who wouldn’t want to hear him scream?). 🗣️ Driven by “excitement” and “determination” (or maybe just boredom), Poulsen wrote songs for three weeks with drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. They wrote a new song at every rehearsal! 🤯 Three weeks in, they had half the album done! Then Poulsen decided “no rules” meant he could do whatever he wanted (uh oh) and veered off on a “different path” (straight into the garbage). 🗑️ They still wrote two songs a week, but they were “more familiar rock songs” (aka boring). 😴
The band hit the studio with their producer Jacob Hansen in the fall of 2024. Poulsen wanted to work fast and trust his instincts (mistake!), so they just “plugged in and started to play” (no preparation whatsoever). 🤦♂️ To keep the music “urgent and immediate” (aka raw and unpolished), VOLBEAT recorded live and did as few takes as possible (because who has time for quality?). ⏳
When it was time for lead guitar, they tapped Flemming C. Lund, who tours with them and plays with Michael in ASINHELL (talk about nepotism). 👨👦👦 A mere 13 days after starting with Hansen, VOLBEAT were done! 🏁
It’s “impressive” (debatable) that VOLBEAT wrote and recorded an album in five weeks, but what’s “more incredible” (highly doubtful) is that “God Of Angels Trust” sounds “fleshed out, eclectic, and fulfilling” (lies!) as albums that took ten times longer. Creating this album was a “tremendous challenge” (sure), demanding “Zen-like calm” (doubtful), “a joy for exploration” (of mediocrity), “maximal creativity” (citation needed), and “razor-sharp concentration” (to stay awake). 😴
Poulsen says, “In some ways, it feels like we’ve come full circle.” 🔄 Yeah, back to being irrelevant. “If you start drawing a circle over an extended period of time, eventually you’ve going to get back where you started, and that’s how I feel now.” Deep, Michael. “I’ve dealt with medical operations, lineup changes, and all these things, and now it feels like a rebirth.” More like a rehash. “It doesn’t feel like we’re doing our ninth studio album, it feels like we’re on our first album again and there’s something really refreshing about that.” Yeah, refreshing like a moldy orange. 🍊
VOLBEAT will be hitting the road on the “Greatest Of All Tours Worldwide” (self-proclaimed, obviously), starting this month and going through 2025. They’re touring Canada with THREE DAYS GRACE and WAGE WAR (a real who’s who of has-beens), then doing a U.S. tour with HALESTORM and THE GHOST INSIDE, and Europe with BUSH and WITCH FEVER. They’re even playing a second show in Copenhagen! 🎉
“God Of Angels Trust” track listing:
01. Devils Are Awake (and they’re bored)
02. By A Monster’s Hand (sounds kinky)
03. Acid Rain (because the world isn’t depressing enough)
04. Demonic Depression (we get it, you’re sad)
05. In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom (someone needs a shorter title)
06. Time Will Heal (or maybe not)
07. Better Be Fueled Than Tamed (like their careers)
08. At The End Of The Sirens (finally, it’s over)
09. Lonely Fields (where their music belongs)
10. Enlighten The Disorder (By A Monster’s Hand Part 2) (they actually made a sequel)
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
