VOLBEAT ANNOUNCE INTIMATE LONDON SHOW

5th November 2021 0 By John Deaux

Multi-platinum Danish rock group Volbeat are excited to announce a special, intimate show in London ahead of their June 2022 Download Festival performance, where they play directly underneath headliners Biffy Clyro and Korn on Sunday’s main stage.

The one-off London date will take place at the 800-capacity O2 Academy Islington venue on May 21st, 2022, a giant underplay for the band who have previously sold out the 48,250 capacity Telia Parken stadium back home in Denmark. Tickets are expected to sell out rapidly when they go on sale.

For priority access to pre-sale tickets, just pre-order the new album Servant Of The Mind on any format via the official Volbeat UK store here. Orders must be placed by 4pm GMT on Monday 22nd November to be eligible for exclusive pre-sale access. Codes will be emailed out from 6pm GMT on the 22nd with the pre-sale starting at 10am GMT on Tuesday 23rd November. General on sale launches at 10am GMT on Friday 26th November.

Last week, Volbeat shared new song “Becoming”, the latest offering from Servant Of The Mind due out on December 3rd via EMI Records. Watch the lyric video here. Previously, the group released the rager “Shotgun Blues” and a “double barrel” of summer songs: “Wait A Minute My Girl” and “Dagen Før (feat. Stine Bramsen)“, the former of which became the band’s ninth number one single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

For Servant Of The Mind, Volbeat – Michael Poulsen (guitars/vocals), Jon Larsen (drums), Rob Caggiano (guitars) and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass) – took their signature heavy metal, psychobilly and punk ‘n’ roll sound up a notch while showcasing Poulsen’s keen ability for songwriting and storytelling. The new album will be available in standard CD, deluxe 2LP vinyl (in various limited-edition variants) and a deluxe digital edition.

“I wrote the whole album in three months,” recalls Poulsen, “I was in a good place and mood while at home, and had a captive audience of myself… There are a lot of Volbeat signatures in it. If you go back to the first record and compare it to where we are now, you can hear how the band has developed its style, while keeping the signature sound.”

Other songs on the album weave intricate and fascinating tales. “The Sacred Stones” tells the story of “an earthly being who has committed himself to the dark side. He is on a mission, speaking to darker forces and fallen angels.” Meanwhile, “The Devil Rages On” looks at the idea of the devil taking human form. Album opener “Temple of Ekur” returns to the ancient themes explored in past songs such as “The Gates of Babylon,” while the epic album closer “Lasse’s Birgita” explores the story of the first witch burnings to occur in Sweden in 1471.

Volbeat are two decades deep into a career that has found them sharing stages with genre legends like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Motorhead, Slipknot, Megadeth, Anthrax and more. They have racked up nearly three billion cumulative streams over the course of their career, notched a Best Metal Performance Grammy nomination for “Room 24 (feat. King Diamond)” from 2014’s acclaimed (and gold-selling) Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, and have grabbed multiple Danish Music Awards. Not ones to rest on their laurels, their forthcoming album Servant Of The Mind, which was written and recorded during the shutdown and quarantine necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is introspective but pulls no punches and is no less raucous or driving than their previous efforts.

Since forming in 2001, Volbeat has gone from the clubs of Copenhagen to headlining stages around the world, including the famed Telia Parken stadium in Denmark (becoming the only domestic artist to ever sell out the venue). Over the course of seven record-breaking albums the band has picked up number one songs (including nine #1s on the US Mainstream Rock chart and counting, the most of any band based outside of North America), multi-platinum certifications, awards, and accolades all over the planet. Their latest album, Rewind, Replay, Rebound, was released in 2019, giving the band their highest national album chart position in the UK yet at #7, and has spawned the hit singles “Last Day Under The Sun,” “Die To Live (feat. Neil Fallon)” and “Leviathan.” A live album featuring songs recorded during the subsequent world tour, Rewind, Replay, Rebound: Live in Deutschland, was released digitally in November 2020. They also contributed a cover of “Don’t Tread On Me” to The Metallica Blacklist, with all proceeds from the track benefiting the All Within My Hands Foundation and the Børne Cancer Fonden of Denmark.