ALBUM REVIEW: God Of Angels Trust – Volbeat
In hindsight, VOLBEAT showed up at exactly the right time. Prior to the release of their second album Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil in 2007, the rock world was anxiously looking at the increasing age of their heroes, and wondering who would one day fill their shoes. The thought that a breakneck combination of METALLICA and ELVIS PRESLEY would be the next big thing was ridiculous, but VOLBEAT succeeded nonetheless. That record turned them into a sensation in mainland Europe, and while it may have taken a few more album-cycles to crack the English-speaking market, VOLBEAT are now unquestionably a big deal. They’re an arena-filling band who have managed to achieve Platinum status in the streaming age, and more than ready to take the festival headliner baton from yesterday’s heroes and run with it.
But at the same time, they’re at risk of becoming predictable. When Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil was released, they existed as a scene unto themselves; they were apart from power metal, thrash, groove and metalcore, and that uniqueness made them special. But it’s been almost two decades and what was once fresh and exciting, is in danger of becoming stale. If you’ve missed a VOLBEAT album then don’t worry, another one will be along in a minute.
Thankfully, on their ninth-full length, VOLBEAT prove that they’ve still got a degree of unpredictability. God Of Angels Trust is a slightly darker than its predecessors, and it seems as though they’ve spent more time obsessing over Satanic rites and serial killers than prohibition-era gangsters this time around. Frontman Michael Poulsen reportedly took a more impulsive approach to songwriting for this record, and tracks like Demonic Depression have an impressively heavy backbone. The rockabilly and country influences are still present and correct, but their thrash leanings are more noticeable.
In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom meanwhile has an eclectic edge that matches its ridiculous title. There’s no real chorus in this one, but there is an unholy amalgamation of BLACK SABBATH riffs, Johnny Cash-style vocals and a frankly brilliant moment where Poulsen just reads out the song name before a massive breakdown. It’s an unconventional number, but it’s also got a future fan favourite written all over it.
Time Will Heal’s semi-ballad follows and is perhaps the most predictable cut on here. It’s a chugging, catchy and melodious anthem but while it’ll no doubt appease anyone who adores older songs like Fallen, it’s a disappointing effort after the barnstorming number that preceded it. Mercifully though, Better Be Fueled Than Tamed gets the momentum back with a big, shout-along slice of psychobilly punk. It sounds like what would happen if heavy metal came into being twenty years earlier than it did and got challenged to a hot rod race by a guy named Skeeter.
As the album barrels into the final lap, it manages to maintain a consistent pace and like all VOLBEAT albums, is relatively easy to like. It doesn’t do much wrong and there’s enough spontaneity that you can find a marked difference from their early classics if you go looking for it. But while it is different to more or less anything that’s showed up in our inbox in 2025, it’s unmistakably a VOLBEAT album. If you loved their last few releases and want more rump-shaking boogie metal to play when rumbling with the Scorpions behind the high school bleachers, you’ll love this. But if you think they’ve been treading water since 2013, it won’t convince you otherwise.
Rating: 7/10
God Of Angels Trust is out now via Vertigo Records.
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