VOLBEAT's MICHAEL POULSEN: 'BLACK SABBATH Was The Main Reason Why I Started Playing Guitar'

During an appearance on the latest episode of The Mistress Carrie Podcast, guitarist/vocalist Michael Poulsen of Danish rock and rollers VOLBEAT was asked what the music of heavy metal legends BLACK SABBATH has meant to him over the years. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Everything. Because BLACK SABBATH was the main reason why I started playing guitar. That was listening and discovering BLACK SABBATH. And it's still that band that keeps inspiring, no matter what music I do for whatever band. They are eternal and they are the godfathers for a reason. [They have had] so many great albums, classic albums, and very interesting lineups as well. So they meant a lot to me and still do."

In a December 2021 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, Poulsen credited BLACK SABBATH with inspiring some of the music on VOLBEAT's eighth studio album, "Servant Of The Mind", which came out earlier that month via Republic Records.

"If you look at the more heavy side of the material, it's obvious that's a lot of old BLACK SABBATH inspiration — more from the [Ronnie James] Dio past and from the Tony Martin [era] of BLACK SABBATH," he said. "I do love the Ozzy [Osbourne] material, but you can definitely hear the inspiration from the BLACK SABBATH Dio and Tony Martin era."

Back in January 2020, Poulsen picked BLACK SABBATH's "Black Sabbath" a one of the 10 songs that changed his life. He explained to Kerrang! magazine: "My mom's brother lived next door to us, so I went through his record collection and found an album with a sleeve that scared the crap out of me. It was a woman in a graveyard or something, and he told me I was way too young to listen to it. So when he was out, I snuck into his house and put the record on, and that was my introduction to BLACK SABBATH. That was the song that made me want to dig into that scene. Hearing that opening riff made me want my first guitar."

VOLBEAT's ninth album, "God Of Angels Trust", will be released on June 6 via longtime label Vertigo/Universal. The LP's arrival will coincide with plenty of summer touring on the band's "Greatest Of All Tours Worldwide".

Poulsen started working on songs for the follow-up to 2021's "Servant Of The Mind" in the summer of 2024. VOLBEAT was taking a year-long break from touring to give Michael a chance to recover from throat surgery and to tour with his death metal band ASINHELL. Driven equally by his excitement to record a new VOLBEAT album and by his determination not to follow convention, Poulsen worked on songs for a mere three weeks with bandmates drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. Amazingly, they worked on a new song at every rehearsal. Three weeks into the process, VOLBEAT had arranged half of "God Of Angels Trust". That's when Poulsen decided that having no rules meant he could follow his muse wherever it took him, and he veered off on a different path. He and the band still wrote and rehearsed two songs a week, but they started composing more familiar rock songs that drew from traditional elements.

The band entered the studio with their longtime producer Jacob Hansen in the fall of 2024. As with the songwriting, Poulsen wanted to work quickly and rely on instinct, so they just plugged in and started to play. To keep the music sounding urgent and immediate, VOLBEAT recorded live in the studio, playing as few takes as possible before moving from one song to the next.

When it came time to add lead guitar, there was no question that VOLBEAT would tap Flemming C. Lund, who currently tours with the band and worked with Michael in ASINHELL. A mere 13 days after they started working with Hansen, VOLBEAT were finished.

VOLBEAT will return to the road on the "Greatest Of All Tours Worldwide", beginning in June and running throughout 2025. The tour begins in June with a co-headline Canadian run with THREE DAYS GRACE and special guests WAGE WAR, which will be followed by headline treks in the U.S. with special guests HALESTORM and THE GHOST INSIDE, and Europe with special guests BUSH and WITCH FEVER, including a second show at Copenhagen's Royal Arena on September 20.

Photo credit: Brittany Bowman (courtesy of Atom Splitter PR + Republic/Universal)