Volbeat
Support: Icead Earth
Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany
Mon 11 Nov 13
Door time: 6.00pm
Volbeat. One word. One band. One inimitable sound. One matchless approach to music.
Yet the possibilities are endless.
And why shouldn’t they be? When you have a band that is more than willing to break musical boundaries and the world’s preconceived notions about musical styles you have a rarity-one that is anchored by a heady mix of rockabilly, early rock and roll and metal held together by a handful of pomade and nine gauge super slinky strings. .. A Danish wonder that has the metal world standing up, taking out their ear plugs and removing their blinders.
What you hear and what you see leaves you with a musical tattoo – indelible, signi?cant and most importantly, long lasting.
Formed in Copenhagen in 2001,and comprised of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Thomas Bredahl, bassist Anders Kjølholm and drummer Jon Larsen, Volbeat has released four studio albums and one live DVD all chart toppers and/or certi?ed gold in Europe, with their seminal release “Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil” certified Platinum.
Steadily increasing their fan base with their unique blend and style of music and uncompromising stage shows, Volbeat continues to marry Heavy Metal and Rockabilly, smear it with a kiss of crunchy guitars and drive away in a vintage Cadillac stuffed with Marshall plexis and fueled with leaded gas.
Their arrival on the Metal scene brought about a colossal explosion in Europe heralded by “Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil”. Entering the Danish music charts at number one, this bottle rocket landed Volbeat on nearly every musical radar screen. The album stayed in the top 5 ranking for over months. Propelled by this reception, Volbeat went out on their second European tour pushing even further into the pages of Metal’s history.
However, Volbeat’s sound is more than just an amalgam, or even a fusion, it is the sonic antithesis to current trends in Metal and Rock. It’s a musical rebellious hot rod chugging out heavy guitars, pounding bass and a relentless drum backbeat that grabs you in the gut and with a wink, says, “now listen to this!”
How did it all start? Well legend has it that it is what could have happened if Elvis’s third cousin had gotten out of juvenile detention, started hanging out with Johnny Cash and Gene Vincent and the first thing they got their hands on was a Slayer album. He would be singing metal a la Volbeat and vis a vis Michael Poulsen.
And if you ask Michael about his roots you may just begin to believe the legend.
“I think it all has something to do with the fact that since I was a child I was really interested in old rock and roll music. My parents were playing Elvis, Johnny Cash and Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, all the music from the 50’s – they were playing it all of the time, and generally my family were all interested in music but no one was writing or playing – they were just listeners. I remember listening to some of the old records that belonged to my sister’s boyfriend. He had old vinyl from Black Sabbath, Dio and bands like that and early Metallica – I got really hooked into the metal scene. In school, I gathered some friends and tried to form a metal band but it seemed like I was the only guy that was 100% dedicated and serious. So I had to seek out something different.”
That first break with average was the formation of the death metal band Dominus in 1991. For almost a decade the band earned a solid respect and a dedicated following releasing one single, two demos and four albums, each differing in style – foreshadowing things to come.
