Review : VOLBEAT – “The Strength/The Sound/The Songs”

Volbeat – The Strength/The Sound/The Songs
re-released November 17, 2009 on Mascot

To accept Volbeat is to love them. Their music is a visceral touchstone between the worlds of rockabilly, punk, and metal, emanating both brooding angst and rowdy hellraising under a pop veneer.

This is actually their debut album, originally released in 2005, but was recently reissued. There’s a ‘truth’ the Danish quartet embodies––a working class camaraderie, if you will––evidenced in the newspaper-esque layout of the liner notes, complete with Elvis Presley quotes and decades-old advertisements. They are as much a product of these biographical lyrics as the next guys, wielding the kind of might that’s earned, not ascribed.

There’s a thick layer of crunch formed over most of the album, from their absorptive opening pair of tracks, to the Misfits worship in “Always. wu”, thru the excellent gallop in “Say Your Number”, and Hetfield-channeling in “Alienized”. Even their most accessible moments still have refreshing dynamism, and frontman Michael Paulsen proudly possesses one of the most powerful voices in modern rock.

Note: tracks 2, 5, 8, 10 and 12 are also on 2003’s Beat The Meat demo. And don’t worry, they cover Dusty Springfield on 13, not Hootie and the Blowfish!

FCC: 4, 5, 9, 10
Try *1*, 2, *7*, 12, 13, 14

01. Caroline Leaving
02. Another Day, Another Way
03. Something Else Or
04. Rebel Monster
05. Pool Of Booze, Booze, Booza
06. Always. wu
07. Say Your Number
08. Soulweeper
09. Fire Song
10. Danny & Lucy (11 PM)
11. Caroline #1
12. Alienized
13. I Only Wanna Be With You
14. Everything’s Still Fine
15. Healing Subconsciously

Rating: