Volbeat have never been shy about chucking some extremity into their hard 'n' heavy rock'n'roll mix, and vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen recently revealed the band were drawing on one of death metal's all-time greats for new single Becoming.
In a video discussing the new single [linked below], Poulsen revealed the track was a tribute to former Entombed vocalist Lars-Göran 'L.G.' Petrov, who passed away in March 2021 after a battle with cancer.
"As you've probably noticed, [Becoming] is a tribute to the mighty Entombed and our good friend L.G. Petrov who sadly passed away," Poulsen explains. "It's one of those riffs where you can definitely hear the inspiration from the Clandestine album which was L.G.'s favourite Entombed record, which is quite funny because he doesn't sing on that album."
In fact, Clandestine is the only Entombed record that Petrov didn't sing on, having been fired from the group due to personal disputes following the release of the band's debut Left Hand Path in 1990 before rejoining and working with the band on 1993's Wolverine Blues, a record which set the stage for death'n'roll.
While Entombed's influence on the establishment of Swedish death metal as an subgenre in its own right (further spawning everything from the Gothenburg sound to Opeth) is enormous, the legendary singer himself also played an enormous part in the shaping of the metal scene, befriending many a musician (and journalist) over the decades.
"L.G. was a great guy, a great human being, a good friend," Poulsen says. "Wherever you are out there, friend, dear brother, I hope that you're doing good down there or up there. Let's all raise our glasses for Mr. L.G. - Becoming is for you, my dear friend. Cheers!"
Volbeat recently returned to the US for a run of dates across September and October after being forced to cancel shows in 2020 due to the pandemic. Speaking of the recent shows, Poulsen thanked American fans for their support and addressed recent surgery undertaken to remove some polyps in his throat.
"It felt good to be back on-stage, knocking off the rust," he says. "It felt good for me to be back on-stage working on my vocals after throat surgery - thank you so much for helping sing the songs."
The band are due to return to the US in early 2022 for a co-headline arena tour with Ghost.
Volbeat's eighth studio album Servant Of The Mind is due December 3 via EMI.
Servant Of The Mind tracklisting:
1. Temple of Ekur
2. Wait A Minute My Girl
3. The Sacred Stones
4. Shotgun Blues
5. The Devil Rages On
6. Say No More
7. Heaven’s Descent
8. Dagen Før (feat. Stine Bramsen)
9. The Passenger
10. Step Into Light
11. Becoming
12. Mindlock
13. Lasse’s Birgitta
