VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen went on Facet Jams with Bryan Reesman to speak about his love for boxing and the fighters he admires. In the course of the dialog, he revealed {that a} Danish fighter helped him cease his heavy consuming, shed 25 kilos (round 55 kilos),and get into higher form.
Poulsen said that in his childhood, when his dad wasn’t enjoying ’50s music he had boxing movies operating on TV. His father was in just a few fights when he was youthful, and Poulsen did some coaching as a teen however determined to decide on music. Nevertheless, the rock ‘n roll life-style started to meet up with him a few years in the past.
“It got here to a degree throughout VOLBEAT‘s profession the place I used to be consuming manner an excessive amount of,” Poulsen admitted. “I can truthfully say that I turned an alcoholic. Mikkel Kessler, the Danish boxing champion, who was my good friend at the moment — we wrote a track for him, ‘A Warrior’s Name’ — he mentioned to me, ‘Michael, it is time so that you can put that booze on the shelf and get in good condition. You are consuming an excessive amount of. You are getting fats, and mentally it is destroying you.’ So I used to be coaching so much with Mikkel. He put up a plan for me easy methods to eat and easy methods to get well, and I turned a extra sober and clear and blissful man. He took it very critically as a result of he was involved, and he noticed all of the alarms happening. So I can solely thank him.”
When requested about fighters he admired, the singer listed the greats like Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, however he additionally introduced up Danish boxers comparable to Gert Bo Jacobsen and newer names just like the Klitschko brothers and Oleksandr Usyk.
“I am so blissful that Oleksandr Usyk from Ukraine is the brand new undisputed heavyweight champion,” Poulsen mentioned. “He is just about been mopping the ground with all of the cruiserweights. And now he is been mopping the flooring with the heavyweights. Not solely is he very proficient and crafted, he is additionally an amazing ambassador for the game. What he is doing for his nation in Ukraine is wonderful. He is an amazing human being. He is very, very inspiring to take heed to. So him turning into the undisputed champion and beating Tyson Fury was one thing that I actually loved. It is all the time nice to see nice individuals with nice outcomes.”
VOLBEAT‘s ninth album, “God Of Angels Belief”, will arrive on June 6 through the band’s longtime label Vertigo/Common.
In a press launch saying “God Of Angels Belief”, Poulsen said in regards to the making of the hassle: “Previously, I’ve taken a very long time to put in writing and obsessed over so many parts of the songs earlier than ending them. This time, I wished to make a VOLBEAT file with out considering an excessive amount of about it. As an alternative of following any sort of construction I mentioned, ‘Okay, there aren’t any guidelines. I can do something I would like. I can begin with a refrain or do songs which might be only a bunch of verses stacked on prime of one another. Something goes.’ That was liberating for me and made it thrilling to put in writing this album.”
Poulsen began engaged on songs for the follow-up to “Servant Of The Thoughts” in the summertime of 2024. VOLBEAT was taking a year-long break from touring to provide Michael an opportunity to get well from throat surgical procedure and to tour together with his demise steel band ASINHELL. Pushed equally by his pleasure to file a brand new VOLBEAT album and by his dedication to not observe conference, Poulsen labored on songs for a mere three weeks with bandmates Jon and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. Amazingly, they labored on a brand new track at each rehearsal. Three weeks into the method, VOLBEAT had organized half of “God Of Angels Belief”. That is when Poulsen determined that having no guidelines meant he may observe his muse wherever it took him, and he veered off on a distinct path. He and the band nonetheless wrote and rehearsed two songs every week, however they began composing extra acquainted rock songs that drew from conventional parts.
The band entered the studio with their longtime producer Jacob Hansen within the fall of 2024. As with the songwriting, Poulsen wished to work rapidly and depend on intuition, so they simply plugged in and began to play. To maintain the music sounding pressing and fast, VOLBEAT recorded stay within the studio, enjoying as few takes as potential earlier than transferring from one track to the following.
When it got here time so as to add lead guitar, there was no query that VOLBEAT would faucet Flemming C. Lund, who presently excursions with the band and labored with Michael in ASINHELL. A mere 13 days after they began working with Hansen, VOLBEAT have been completed.
VOLBEAT will return to the highway on the “Best Of All Excursions Worldwide”, starting in June and operating all through 2025. The tour begins in June with a co-headline Canadian run with THREE DAYS GRACE and particular friends WAGE WAR, which will likely be adopted by headline treks within the U.S. with particular friends HALESTORM and THE GHOST INSIDE, and Europe with particular friends BUSH and WITCH FEVER, together with a second present at Copenhagen’s Royal Area on September 20.