Volbeat front man Michael Poulsen: Black Sabbath as a big inspiration

The Danish rockers from Volbeat are back. The band released its ninth studio album “God of Angels Trust” on June 6th. The record was written and recorded in just five weeks, a reason for this was a band break, as Frontmann Michael Poulsen (50) tells in an interview with Spot on News. “We had a year break so that I could take a ears surgery and I was on the road with my second project. When I got together with the Volbeat boys again, we were fire and flame because we are not used to having breaks. We are always constant on touring or albums or just work. We were so eager to go to work.”

Poulsen, Jon Larsen (54, drums) and Kaspar Boye Larsen (50, bass) also showed a different way of working: “We wondered: ‘Just start all over and imagine that this is the first Volbeat plate that we will write – how should it sound?’ To all the experience as a musician and as a band, something refreshingly new was added, namely simply throwing away the rule book how to put together a song. ” The band went back to their beginnings. “And at the time we almost had no idea what we did, what a chorus, a pre-chorus or a hook is. Why not see if we can capture anything from the beginning, where we didn’t take care of structure?” This is how songs were created on the album such as “In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in A Dying World of Doom” that do without a refrain. “We had so much fun with it that it became a small recipe for some of the first songs. So I wrote a song on Monday, on Tuesday we rehearsed it and on Wednesday I wrote a new song again. We worked until we had ten songs.”

In terms of content, the album offers very personal songs such as “Lonely Fields” or “Acid Rain”, which deals with the memories of Poulsen’s deceased father and what questions he would like to ask him. “You hear from people who were dead for half a minute, or ten seconds, and you hear almost every one of them talking about this tunnel light that they see and how all life passes in very fast pictures. Simply the big questions we have as humans. ” His daughter has recently started asking what happens, “if we die and how long we will live. These are really difficult questions. And the thing is, you can’t really get a direct answer. You can only say:” Do you know what? Don’t think about such things. It will take many years before you should start thinking about such things. “

Volbeat will also present the new songs live, on their tour they stop in Stuttgart, Cologne, Oberhausen, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Hamburg and Hanover. Poulsen raves: “Germany has always been a huge part of Volbeat’s success in Europe. From the beginning we had a great audience there, and it is still one of these European countries where Volbeat has some of the greatest crowds, a place where we sell most of the records. The fans are extremely loyal and we are really grateful for it.”

The tour of the band founded in 2001 has now become calmer. “Of course we used to fulfill clichés with all the celebrations and this stuff. But it is actually more fun to be able to remember the tours and shows …” In addition, the band no longer play as many shows as before. “In the past, it was definitely about building up the name and simply playing constant. We could easily play 185 shows a year. Now we have reduced it. This tour is only about 85 shows,” explains the singer. The musicians also have a different life today, “to be on the street and play music. We have all children and family has priority. So we only play the shows that make sense.” This also includes an appearance in your home Copenhagen. “It is always something special to come home and play in Denmark. But it is also very stressful because all your friends and family are there (laughs). It all started there, so there are many great memories, it is always something we are looking forward to.”

He also has unique memories of an encounter with Ozzy Osbourne (76), which will say goodbye to Black Sabbath on July 5 with a concert in Birmingham. “Unfortunately we cannot be there for the show for various reasons,” says Poulsen. “As I said, family has priority. We have already shared the stage with Black Sabbath and Ozzy. In Sweden we had a great show with them and had time to meet them. It was a great night, legendary, a great memory.”

Black Sabbath has always been a huge inspiration for Volbeat, “and I think for a million other heavy rock and rock bands around the world,” Poulsen looks at the band’s farewell. “They are the sponsors of metal or rock music. And Black Sabbath was the main reason why I wanted to play guitar. The music that I published during my life was always inspired by Black Sabbath. They made so many great classic albums with great different casts.

And how does he see the future of Volbeat, does the band already peek on a tenth anniversary album? “At the moment we are concentrating on the tour preparation and this album,” says Poulsen. “We like to take every day as he comes and take nothing but take it for granted.” The world has become a crazy place. “And the music scene, the business has become crazy and extremely expensive. Everything has tripled. It has become incredibly expensive for bands. So we don’t think too much about what is in the future.”