Album Review: Volbeat - "Servant Of The Mind"

 

First new offering from Volbeat since 2019's Rewind, Replay And Rebound and for once there's a bit of expectation here. That album was an unexpected return to form after a slump which had gone on for a few albums before it so the big question here is - have they managed to keep the run going?

To be honest, the answer's no. Similar to a lot of Volbeat's output over the last decade or so, Servant of the Mind is a solid and workmanlike album, well-played and tight sounding but seriously lacking a spark to really make you want to cue it up for repeated listening. Opening track Temple of Ekur kind of sums the problem up - it's reasonable enough with a winding Therapy?-style riff underpinning it but it just doesn't stick in your mind. And when they go into latter day Iron Maiden proggy territory on the snoresome Sacred Stones and Lasse's Birgitta, it's difficult to resist the temptation to reach for the skip forward button.

Oh sure, there's the odd slight curveball such as the almost psychobilly stylings of Wait A Minute My Girl and The Devil Rages On but even then, the fact that Volbeat appear to have only one setting for their guitar and vocal sound means they don't stand out from the pack as much as they should. Given there was once a time (circa Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies) where their "Johnny Cash goes thrash" musical style seemed genuinely innovative, it's a real shame that they now seem to have sunk into just being yet another bunch of second division Metallica/Diamond Head clones.

Like I say it's frustrating more than anything because history shows us that Volbeat are clearly a band who know their way around a decent riff and hook but they're just so annoyingly limited in their scope these days that Servant of the Mind ends up basically being the metal equivalent of an Ikea lamp. And really, why settle for solid and workmanlike when you could go for something genuinely breath-taking, innovative and spectacular instead? Overall, it's very difficult to escape the feeling that this is a band whose golden days appear to now be a depressingly long way behind them.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌓🌓🌓🌓🌓🌓🌑🌑🌑🌑 (6/10)