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?
Ha, no! That’s just how my brain works. When it came to working on this album, I was so inspired. I said to Kaspar [Boye Larsen, bassist] and Jon [Larsen, drummer]: “Wouldn’t it be interesting if we didn’t overthink things and throw the rules away and feel like we’re starting over again.’ So with that song, there’s no big chorus. It’s [fist-pumping voice]: ‘In the barn! Of the goat! Giving birth to Satan’s spawn!’ People were like: “Are you serious?” I was shooting from the hip.
So what’s the fascination with goats?
There’s little hidden messages in there. If you listen to the opening song, Devils Are Awake, that’s pretty much what the title and the cover are all about. We put a lot of trust in regulations and rules and religious directions, just to see them manipulated and broken by the people who create them. All evil has been created by human beings, and they seem to come wearing a mask. It’s me putting question marks over a lot of how the world works today.
So ‘G.O.A.T.’ isn’t you saying you’re the Greatest Of All Time?
Ha, no, it’s definitely not that.
Your late father was a huge guiding light for you, and the song Time Will Heal seems to be inspired by him. How difficult is it to sing about him these days?
It’s definitely becoming more and more easy. It was a huge struggle in the beginning. When I wrote Fallen [the 2009 Volbeat song inspired by the death of Poulsen’s father], it was tough for me to go up on stage and not break down and start crying. Now I use it as something positive.
With time, you get experience in dealing with loss . It’s not great but it’s part of life and you have to accept it. And the last thing my father would want to see if he’s sitting up there in the sky or wherever is his boy walking around being miserable because of it.
Acid Rain seems to be about an out-of-body experience. What inspired that?
Volbeat is not a religious band – we’re not Christian, we’re not satanic, we’re not anything. But I’m a spiritual man and I believe in the spiritual world. I believe that there’s more to life than what we see walking around us.
Acid Rain is me imagining trying to connect with the spirit of my father, my own spirit leaving the body to fly to wherever it needs to fly, to connect with his spirit. And also ask him a lot of questions: “Did you see the tunnel and the light? Did you have all these flashbacks from your life?” It’s about connecting with my dad and putting out some questions.
You’re a father yourself. How did that change you? Did it mellow you out?
Absolutely. Life becomes such a different thing when you have kids. I’m not saying that’s the only way you can enjoy life, but it’s made my life such a beautiful thing. Everybody needs to put their ego away, and that’s what it does to me. My job is to be a good dad and support everything they want now and in the future.
Have you sat them down and played them Metallica and Mercyful Fate yet?
Ha, no. What my kids listen to, I have to listen to. If we’re in the car and they want kids’ music, that’s what we put on. I’m fine with that. Sometimes if we’re out my wife will put on the radio and I’ll say: “Can we just listen to the kids’ music, cos it’s better than what’s on the radio.”
You’re a fan of boxing, and you even trained with Danish former world champion Mikkel Kessler. Do you still do it?
I don’t. There was a time back in the day where I asked myself: “Should I start boxing, or playing music?” But I knew there wouldn’t be time for both. I wanted to dedicate myself to one craft. And I thought I’d probably stand more chance of getting away with being drunk playing music than I would boxing. As a teenager you were a death metal fan.
Would that kid like Volbeat, or would he think you’re too commercial?
I have no idea. But since it’s the same person, I think he’d probably say it was pretty interesting.
What would a Michael Poulsen solo album sound like? Country music? Rockabilly? A kids’ record?
Ha! A lot of people have asked me about that, but I don’t really plan to do one. I have the Asinhell record [2023’s Impii Hora], because death metal was something I started out playing and it was something I missed. But a solo album? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll make an album with all the goats I’m about to buy.
God Of Angels Trust is out now via Vertigo/Universal.
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