'We Were Shooting From The Hip': Volbeat On Finding Magic In Chaos With 'God Of Angels Trust'
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Written by Maddy Howell
For most bands nine albums deep, reinvention is a slow process and often a calculated attempt to remain relevant or repurpose old magic. But Volbeat aren’t most bands. Having spent more than two decades forging their signature collision of mammoth riffs and vintage rockabilly grooves, on ‘God Of Angels Trust’ the Danish metal icons have stripped everything back to basics and dared to build something new without blueprints.
Embracing spontaneity, the band’s latest album came to life swiftly and smoothly, with no idea turned away and no moment of experimentation wasted. Speaking on its whirlwind writing and recording process, frontman Michael Poulsen explains the shift in gears: “As a songwriter, you can easily fall into small traps that you create for yourself.”
“Stepping away from it we realised that we needed to not think so much about our experience and go back to the innocence of songwriting,” he continues. “We were shooting from the hip, not thinking too much about what we were doing. It was like clearing the memory card in our brains and starting fresh.”
Gripped by an urgency they hadn’t felt in a while, the safety net was tossed aside. Writing for ‘God Of Angels Trust’ was done in a matter of weeks, rehearsals happened as the songs were born, and the album was recorded live in the studio in less than a fortnight. The result of that creative chaos is an album that embraces both vulnerability and volatility. “Some of these songs came to life as I was literally writing lyrics in the car on the way to the rehearsal room,” Poulsen observes.
“I’d write a song on Monday, rehearse it Tuesday. Then start the next one Wednesday. It was about accepting whatever came out of me and refusing to overthink it. Once we had 10 songs, we promised each other that would be it — no keeping writing, then sitting around with 25 songs and picking our favourites. Those 10 songs would be the album.”
This rapid-fire freedom is all the more remarkable because the old way was working for Volbeat just fine. Six of their nine albums have gone to number one at home, while they’ve also troubled the very upper reaches of the Billboard 200 in the US. In November, meanwhile, they’ll land in the UK for arena shows in Nottingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
While the classic Volbeat melodies shines through on Acid Rain and Lonely Fields, ‘God Of Angels Trust’ is a record that never settles into an easy groove. It revels in its unpredictability, with moments that should build toward choruses instead exploding into riff-driven left turns. Take the absurdist stomp of the wickedly titled In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom, a track overflowing with theatrical menace that laid the foundation for what the LP as a whole would become. Poulsen smiles as he recalls its origins.
“It's always about the chorus,” he says. “I thought, ‘What if something else was the climax of the song? What if there was something else for people to get excited about?’ I played that song for the band, and they immediately asked where the chorus was. There isn’t one, and that’s the point. After that, any time the pre-chorus or chorus was about to come in, we did something different. In By A Monster’s Hand, you expect a chorus, but you get a guitar riff with three solos on top. We had a lot of fun with that.”
Recorded at longtime producer Jacob Hansen’s studio, the whole thing came together in just over a month, with just 13 days spent in the studio. A liberating process, it also saw Volbeat welcome touring guitarist Flemming C. Lund into their ranks, his leads adding a fresh dynamic without ever disrupting the band’s DNA. “I’ve known Flemming since I had my first death metal band,” Poulsen nods. “I got a taste for his style of playing solos when I brought him into Asinhell, so it was a no brainer to ask him to record with Volbeat this time. He scratches a different itch but it still sounds like us.”
That intricate balance between evolution and identity runs through every thread of ‘God Of Angels Trust’, including its title and artwork. Taken from a real photograph, the album’s cover depicts a bedroom with a goat standing in the doorway. For Poulsen, it serves as a commentary on the blind faith we place in systems, whether they are political, religious, or societal.
“Every day, there are so many things we have to put our trust in,” he says. “Rules, regulations, restrictions, religious directions, they’re all being broken by the people who create them. What are we supposed to put our trust in? I’m a proud parent, but a concerned parent. Children are allowed to believe everything is okay, but we know that outside the door is a scary world, and you have to be on your toes. Mankind is ruining this beautiful world, and those people cover themselves up with agendas and corruption, even using themselves as scapegoats. It’s crazy.”
A meditation on fear, fatherhood, and facing the future with your eyes wide open, while ‘God Of Angels Trust’ undeniably veers into dark territory, it’s ultimately a venture fuelled by joy. Free from pressure, focused solely on the pure thrill of making noise, it feels effortless. Stepping out of their comfort zone, placing one foot in front of the other, they have wound up almost going full circle. Poulsen, though, has never felt more certain that this is where he’s supposed to be.
“Honestly, we don’t have to do this anymore,” he says with a shrug. “Financially, I’m comfortable, and I could stop today. Why am I doing this? It’s because I love music. I knew what I wanted to do back when I was very young, and that’s stayed my passion. I’m always inspired, and I love creating music. When the day comes that I have writer’s block or I feel that I’ve done everything that I wanted to, that’ll be the day that I retire. I’ll do this until it no longer makes sense to me.”
Volbeat’s ‘God Of Angels Trust’ is out now through Vertigo/Universal.
Volbeat Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed November 05 2025 - NOTTINGHAM Motorpoint Arena
Thu November 06 2025 - CARDIFF Utilita Arena Cardiff
Sat November 08 2025 - MANCHESTER AO Arena
Mon November 10 2025 - GLASGOW OVO Hydro
Wed November 12 2025 - BIRMINGHAM Utilita Arena
Thu November 13 2025 - LONDON OVO Arena Wembley
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