On Volbeat’s MySpace-site the Danish rockers claim to play “metal that even your mum would like”. Obviously that depends on how badass your mom is, but surely there’s something for almost everyone on ‘Guitar Gangsters & Caddilac Blood’. Not that the Copenhagen metal quartet has gone soft on us, but Volbeat’s third effort is indeed their most versatile album yet.

One of the endearing qualities of Volbeat is that they – unlike many otherwise good metal bands – do not insist that everything not metal is wrong. Front-man and songwriter Michael Poulsen doesn’t just wear his influences on his sleeves, he has quite a few of them tattooed on his body; the face of Elvis Aaron Presley on one arm and the logo of Social Distortion on the other. And both The King, Mike Ness and many other of Poulsen’s obvious inspirations can be heard throughout the album whether they are from the heavy metal world or not.

The brilliant title track is pure old school rock ‘n’ roll with a nice 50s touch to it, the equally great next track ‘Back To Prom’ is a punk song clocking in at no more than two minutes and could’ve easily been a Social Distortion track. The slide guitar leaden ‘We’ has a distinct Johnny Cash-feel about it and ‘Light A Way’ is heavily inspired by gospel. And so on and so on. All the experiments may not work – one could argue that the ska-inspired intro to ‘Still Counting’ is more quaint than actually good – but you have to give Volbeat credit for trying.

Another thing they deserve credit for is that even though the album points in many directions and Volbeat tampers with a lot of genres their unique metal ‘n’ roll is still present alongside Michael Poulsen’s trademark Elvis-Presley-meets-James-Hetfield vocals and guitar riffs that will blow your head clean off. The Metallica-tribute ‘Wild Rover Of Hell’ is surely not something your mum would like and ‘Find That Soul’ is vintage Volbeat – heavy as hell, but shamelessly melodic.

That would be the long version of the review of ‘Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood’. Here’s the short one: Buy. Now.

Genre: Heavy metal/Hard rock
Who: Volbeat
Title: Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood
Label: Mascot Records/Target Distribution
Year: 2008
Country: Denmark
Language: English
DOWNLOAD VIA

Recommended tracks:
Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood – Back To Prom - Mary Ann’s Place - Maybellene I Hofteholder – Wild Rover Of Hell – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry