Sifting through the seas of scatterbrained yet satisfying songs that populate this extended release can prove a daunting task if one is craving instant gratification, which is a tad ironic given this outfit’s frequent pop flirtations. Combined with the steady and occasionally inventive contributions of longtime drummer Jon Larsen and recently recruited bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen, this is a finely tuned, hard rocking machine with a penchant for wandering clear off the map. The presence of former Anthrax lead guitarist and Bronx native Rob Caggiano adds a nice technical edge to the fold, particularly when they veer into thrash metal territory, which happens fairly often. Alongside the obvious tuneful style that one might expect from a clean sung chorus out of All That Remains or Trivium, there are some clear inclinations towards older rock icons such as Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison that sees some of this outfit’s material occasionally sounding like nods to early Danzig.
The singer in question is not just another singing pretty boy from the mid-2000s metalcore scene, but a man of many divergent voices, perhaps best compared to the likes of Mike Patton.
It should be noted that Poulsen and company are not your typical flock of musicians, nor is the collage of sound within which they weave their sonic web. But one listen to their albums reveals a fold of musicians that take to their craft like a metallic duck to a pool of toxic water, and their eighth studio LP “Servant Of The Mind” presents yet another exercise in freewheeling through just about every style in the book and still having it all make sense at the end. The very notion of putting a voice clean enough to pass for the Billboard Top 40’s regulars at the foreground of a hodgepodge of thrash, punk, metalcore, alternative and mainline hard rock seems the most counterintuitive arrangement ever to be suggested, whether it be in metal circles or any of the other aforementioned styles.
While an obvious far cry from the 90s death metal mayhem that originally typified his career with Dominus, guitarist and vocalist Michael Poulsen and his outfit Volbeat’s unconventional blend of metal and mainstream music trappings has always seemed a near effortless expression.
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