There was a time when discovering Volbeat felt like stumbling onto something oddly perfect. Music that bridged two seemingly distant worlds: the bruising gallop of thrash and the dusty soul of Americana. The band’s early records wore this duality proudly, shifting between crooning melodies and breakneck riffs with a wink and a punch. But somewhere after “Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies”, something shifted. The riffs got cleaner, the hooks bigger, the cowboy hat glossier. In chasing stadiums, Volbeat started to forget what it was like to fight their way out of the bar.
“God of Angels Trust” is the first record in over a decade that suggests they remember. Whether it’s the absence of longtime guitarist and producer Rob Caggiano (whose arrival marked their pivot toward a more radio-polished sound) or just an overdue itch to get their hands dirty again, this album feels like a deliberate reclamation of grit.
From the first punch of “Devils Are Awake,” the intent is clear: less polish, more pulse. It’s not nostalgia for the sake of it, it’s a recalibration. Songs like “Demonic Depression” and “Better Be Fueled Than Tamed” swing hard, complete with unmistakable nods to Metallica’s riff-driven legacy, recalling the raw energy of early Volbeat while injecting just enough modern weight to keep it from sounding like a dishonest attempt to serve Memberberries. There’s a roughness to the riffs again, a sense that not everything has been airbrushed down to algorithmic perfection.
Even the more melodic tracks like “Acid Rain” and “By a Monster’s Hand” manage to pull their weight, offering breathing room without dragging the momentum. They’re not the pop outliers that used to derail pacing on recent albums, they serve the larger arc. And that’s perhaps “God of Angels Trust’s” biggest triumph: it flows. Nothing feels like a leftover from a label-mandated bonus track dump.
What’s refreshing is that Volbeat hasn’t entirely shed their arena-rock ambitions; they’ve just chosen to express them with sharper teeth. The choruses are still big, the production still clean, but the heart of the record beats faster, rougher. It’s an album that acknowledges where they’ve been, but more importantly, remembers why they started in the first place.
Is it their best? Too early to say. But it’s the first time in years I’ve felt genuinely excited about what they’re doing. For a band that’s flirted with autopilot for a little too long, “God of Angels Trust” is the swerve back into the lane that made them special. I don’t know where it ranks yet, but I know this: I want to hear it live, loud, and without a break!