01. Devils Are Awake02. By a Monster’s Hand03. Acid Rain04. Demonic Depression05. In The Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom06. Time Will Heal07. Better Be Fueled than Tamed08. At the End of the Sirens09. Lonely Fields10. Enlightening the Disorder (By a Monster’s Hand Part 2)It would have come as a bigger surprise if VOLBEAThadn’t become successful. Michael Poulsen had a simple but unique vision of a rock ‘n’ roll / heavy metal hybrid with massive tunes. He made it happen, and he made it look easy. Nearly a quarter of a century later, VOLBEAT are righteously huge, and enjoying a career plateau where they have little to prove. Their albums have been almost universally praised, and their live shows are largely seen as a guaranteed good time had by all. And yet, Poulsen still seems to have the bit clamped between his teeth. In addition to his fiery death metal project ASINHELL, whose “Impii Hora” debut gave 2023 a resounding fist to the face, the Dane has been pushing his ostensible day job into heavier territory, as opposed to the more commercial direction that cynics might expect. 2021’s “Servant of the Mind” was not so much a return to form, VOLBEAT have been remarkably consistent over the years, but it felt like a partial but purposeful return to that original vision, with a few neat upgrades.On the follow-up, Poulsen gets even heavier. By far the most aggressively metallic record VOLBEAT have ever made, “God Of Angels Trust” is also inventive, diverse and unashamedly dark. Massive tunes, of course, come as standard, but with song titles like “In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom”, we are definitely several yards away from the rousing, rockabilly simplicity of the Danes’ early records. The opening “Devils Are Awake” is a startling slap around the chops. From a ball-busting, METALLICA-like intro, to brutal, rapid-fire chugging, the inevitable euphoric chorus and punishing, sludgy instrumental section, it sits within VOLBEAT’s usual wheelhouse, but with a bloody butcher’s cleaver in its grip. “By A Monster’s Hand” is snarling, mid-tempo monument to menace, with just a touch of theatrical flair, and a mid-song change of pace fueled by Poulsen’s oft-stated love of thrash. In contrast, “Acid Rain” is a rare, bright-eyed moment, with a gorgeous, wistful melody and a breezy, radio-rock demeanor.Those twinkly eyed, happy vibes are immediately divebombed by “Demonic Depression”: one of the most brutal songs in VOLBEAT history. Despite its bellicose, groove metal gait, it is also one of the catchiest songs here. While it begins as a monochrome, psychobilly curio, “In the Barn of the Goat…” blossoms into a monstrous heavy metal celebration, with cudgeling SABBATH riffs, nuclear-powered shredding and another shapeshifting, counterintuitive arrangement.The second half is as strong as the first. “Time Will Heal” is avowedly straight-ahead and genuinely touching; “Better Be Fueled than Tame” is a breakneck, punk rock riot, with thrilling echoes of DEAD KENNEDYS and POISON IDEA, and yet another chorus that will haunt people for months; “At the End of the Sirens” is gothic, exhilarating and firmly tethered to the grooves of ’90s metal; “Lonely Fields” is a woozy, supernatural show-stopper with the spirits of KING DIAMOND and a decomposing Elvis lurking in the background; and the closing “Enlighten the Disorder”, a nominal sequel to “By a Monster’s Hand”, is so full of malevolent energy that Poulsen briefly appears to lose his mind. He really is having an excellent time.It remains to be seen if “Gods Of Angel Trust” is received with the same enthusiasm that turned albums like “Beyond Hell/Above Heaven” into triumphs. But from a gnarly old metalhead’s point of view, this is the heaviest and wildest VOLBEAT album to date.[embedded content]