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Album Reviews : Volbeat – Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie

By on June 10, 2016

volbeat_sealthedeala_20160408194830_225_700The Danish Elvis metallers (or whatever the hell you want to call them!) Volbeat released their sixth album, ‘Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie’ exactly a week ago. I’ve been meaning to release this review sooner, but truth to be told, it’s been a really difficult one to finalize.

As a massive fan of the band I feel it’s my duty to introduce this excellent band to Australia properly. Volbeat have been around for longer than ten years now, but it’s during the later half of their career that they’ve truly started getting recognised. During the last few years they’ve supported bands like Metallica and Rammstein, selling out stadiums in Europe, and have completed numerous US tours. Ex-Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano joined the band in 2013 and he’s added another dimension to Volbeat’s trademark metal/rockabilly/punk rock fusion.

Fast forward three years and not that much has changed in the Volbeat camp, other than Kaspar Boye Larsen replacing Anders Kjølholm (who is sorely missed by all Volbeat fans) as the band’s bassist. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from ‘Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie’, but it’s been a fair while since an album confused me as much as this one, the reason being that the standards and hopes I hold for Volbeat are unfairly high. It is one of my absolute favourite bands in the entire world and up until now I’ve loved every single release they’ve put out unconditionally. I know that for most bands that keep producing better and better albums, there will be a time when that trend comes to an end. Personally, this is what this album is. It is by no means a bad album, but there are some slight flaws that I guess brings Volbeat down to a more mortal level.

I guess one telling sign is that people are commenting about rehashed songs and reused riffs. “For Evigt” is one of my personal favourites on the record, Johan Olsen’s (Magtens Korridorer) vocal performance can almost rival “The Garden’s Tale”, which says a lot. However, I can understand the “Lola Montez” vibes that fans are getting. Moreover, many of the songs are just not sticking with me as Volbeat songs have in the past. I find that they’re lacking the trademark groove and the addictive riffs that I associate with the band. The catchy choruses are there, but an entire album filled with them makes it a bit bland quickly.

There are highlights for sure, “The Devil’s Bleed Crown” being one of the more obvious ones. Looking back at Volbeat’s entire discography, I think it is Poulsen’s best vocal performance to date. “Black Rose”, which is featuring Danko Jones himself, is another gem, however I’m not quite sure if I prefer the version where Michael handles the vocal duties all on his own or not. “Let It Burn” is without a doubt one of Volbeat’s most beautiful songs to date, and it takes me to a pretty special place. I can’t make up my mind whether it’s a happy or a sad one. Sombre is probably the right word. “Goodbye Forever” almost feels like “Let It Burn”’s older cousin, similar in a way, but slightly on the heavier side.

The title track is along with “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown” the best songs on this album, joining the likes of “Still Counting”, “Dead But Rising” and “The Human Instrument” at the very top of the Volbeat catalogue. The band is not really stepping out of their comfort zone on this album, which is fine to me personally, because I really love what they do. They are, however, trying out some new things, with the use of bagpipes, banjos and a collaboration with The Harlem Gospel Choir. They’re all very interesting additions to the Volbeat sound and I’m looking forward to seeing if they decide to venture even further into unknown waters in the future.

“Marie Laveau”, “The Gates of Babylon” and “Mary Jane Kelly” so far almost seem interchangeable. I’ve listened to the album close to twenty times now, and it still takes me a couple of seconds to discern which verse that belongs to which song if I’m just humming along to them. There are also two covers on this album, “Rebound” by Teenage Bottlerocket and “Battleship Chains” by Georgia Satellites. Now, I understand that the Teenage Bottlerocket cover was included on the album in honour of the band’s drummer Brandon Carlisle, who passed away late last year, but to me this is probably the weakest Volbeat track to ever make it onto an album. It might be because I don’t like punk that much, but the original song is boring, and the cover doesn’t really make it interesting. “Battleship Chains” is a lot better, but there’s are still something in the back of my head that makes me wonder if the band is running out of ideas? I suppose I would’ve been more okay with it if the covers were included on the deluxe version of the album.

The most confusing song for yours truly is found on the deluxe edition. “Slaytan” is a 58 second monster that could have been one of Volbeat’s best songs to date if it was turned into something substantial. It is the metal focused sound that can be found on tracks such as “Doc Holliday”, “Rebel Monster”, “Who They Are” and “Pool of Booze”, just to name a few. I find it confusing because I don’t know what the snippet means. In the grand scheme of things it is the 58 best seconds on the entire album, but is it a flirt with the fans who wants the older, heavier sound back? Is it an idea that will later morph into a full song? I have no idea if there’s any meaning behind it at all, but I do know that it is the Volbeat sound that I love most of all, and if they made an entire album sounding like that, I’d be eternally grateful!

All in all, I think this review is sounding a lot more negative than I initially intended. Compared to a lot of other albums that are being released in this day and age, ‘Seal The Deal…’ sits way above most of them. Volbeat’s trademark sound is still one of the most interesting things to happen to the scene in the last 20 or so years, even when it’s stripped of the heavy metal elements. People have been saying that the band is unlikely to win over new fans with this album, but I actually disagree. I think the sort of happy, up tempo rock songs are an excellent gateway into the band, especially if you’re new to metal. I think it will be a commercial success, and while it is not my favourite album, I’m happy for the guys and can just pray that they head back out here soon enough.

About

Martin is an aspiring music photographer/videographer. He is originally from the southern parts of Sweden and now he's living in Sydney, Australia. Thanks to his older sister, he got into Rammstein at the age of 9, and since then he's been into all types of metal/rock. He loves to combine photography and music, but also filming concerts and produce live material. Follow him on Twitter and check out his website.