Volbeat

Singer/guitarist Michael Poulsen on life, death, loss, evil, spirituality, choosing music over boxing, the new album, goats...

- Words: Dave Everley

If Volbeat’s ninth album, God Of Angels Trust, is anything to go by, then Michael Poulsen is obsessed with goats. Not only does the album title spell out 'GOAT', but one of the animals features on the album and appears in a title of one of its songs. Volbeat’s singer, guitarist and chief songwriter Poulsen, laughs off the suggestion. “No, I don’t have any goats at home,” he insists. “But maybe I should.” References to bearded bovidae aside, the album continues the Metallica-approved Danes’ bolshy fusion of metal, punk and old-fashioned rock'n'roll.

Volbeat's last album, Servant Of The Mind, was released in 2021. That’s the longest gap between the band's records. How come?

We pretty much took a sabbatical year. I had to have a throat operation, which went really good, and I had to take time to recover from that. Then I went on the road with my other band, Asinhell, playing some old-school death metal. So when it came to getting back to work with Volbeat, it was just so inspired. It felt like we were coming full circle and starting all over again.

There’s a song on the album called In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom. Were you going for the most heavy metal title in history?