Volbeat – Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie – Album Review

Source // Volbeat

Three years on from the exceptional Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies launched them into the European rock premier league and Denmark’s number one musical export (that’s right, it’s not you Lars anymore!) return with their latest batch of stadium ready rock anthems!

Let’s cut to the chase, if you’re already a fan of Volbeat then this album is going to hold very little in the way of surprises for you. Six albums in and Michael Poulson and his crew of troublesome troubadours are not stupid enough to tinker with their unique formula too much, by this stage in their career they know how to write the Volbeat songs their fans demand. And damn it if they haven’t just gone and released their most consistent set of rump-shakers so far!

Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie kicks off in exemplary style with “The Devils Bleeding Crown” – a bouncy, jaunty little number that has the ‘metal Elvis’ delivering his recognisable stammering, baritone vocal – and from there, believe it or not, things only get better. From the straight up rock of “For Evigt” to “Mary Jane Kelly”, which could well go on record as the catchiest track ever dedicated to the victim of a serial killer, and on to the monumental “Seal the Deal”, it’s a guaranteed done deal that we’re hooked and invested from the get-go.

With Rob Caggiano soloing like a lunatic and some beefy riffing on display throughout, Volbeat clearly haven’t forgotten their metal roots and they remain one of mainstream metal’s most original and consistent bands. As good as every song is on Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie, the album is home to two tracks that better those already mentioned. “Goodbye Forever” comes across almost like latter-day Green Day mixed with a gospel choir(!) and, believe us, this strange concoction works a treat while “Black Rose” is simply a great 60’s pop song with added attitude and is full to the brim with sumptuous melodies. If there was any justice in the world, these 2 songs would be all over mainstream daytime radio, elevating Volbeat to god-like status.

Volbeat are already established festival headliners around Europe and this could well be the album to finally do it for them here in the UK, they’ve paid their dues and never once delivered anything but perfection. The soundtrack to the summer has arrived and if this album doesn’t put a smile on your bulldog-chewing-a-wasp face and get you moving and grooving, then you’re already dead.

The deal’s been signed, boogie on down boys! 10/10