While Volbeat albums have always had a solid production behind them, Servant Of The Mind ups the ante with a bass sound that is firm and powerful, sitting perfectly in its own pocket throughout the whole album. With their wistful guitar riffs and brooding atmospherics, these two songs are a welcome deviation from the band’s formula without detaching themselves from Volbeat's established sound. Perhaps the biggest surprises are “The Devil Rages On” and “Step Into Light”, which both feature a smoky 50’s rockabilly vibe on top of a groove metal underbelly, giving the album a subtle variation that helps lend it a strength in depth that has been lacking in the band’s more recent output. While some songs, like “Temple Of Ekur” and “Heaven’s Descent”, don’t reach the same heights as the singles, they’re still highly enjoyable tracks that help give this album the strength in depth that recent records have sorely lacked, with “The Passenger” and “Say No More” proving to be solid tracks slotted around some of the best work of the band's career in “Shotgun Blues”, “Mindlock” and “Wait A Minute My Girl”.

Alongside the aforementioned singles, which rank amongst some of the best work the band has produced, Servant Of The Mind is a consistent and packed album that plays out for much of its runtime. With expectations launched extremely high with a slew of singles that preceded the album’s release in “Becoming”, “Wait A Minute My Girl” and “Shotgun Blues”, Volbeat had me more excited in the band than I had been in years and, wouldn’t you know it, they produce the needed record to give the boost in the arm fans have been waiting for. Domino Ĭoming off the back of a few years where Volbeat were seeing their momentum starting to slow, with each successive album being a paler imitation of the style of Elvis aping hard rock that had brought the band to such heights, Servant Of The Mind is a mini-make or break album for the band, one that could signal whether the band’s best work was in the rear view mirror or if the band were capable of righting the ship.

Which volbeat album is the best