Volbeat’s “Shotgun Blues” single, which is taken from the band’s latest album, Servant Of The Mind, recently topped both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Mediabase Active Rock charts, the Danish/American group’s tenth top-charter, and cemented the band’s record for having the most No. 1 singles on the Mainstream Rock chart by an artist based outside of North America.
Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen told 93.3 WMMR about the achievement: “It’s crazy. We don’t understand it. There are so many European bands out there, so many great bands, and it’s tough to understand that we are the band who has the most No. 1 hit singles over there in America. It’s crazy. And yeah, I don’t know what to say about it. I’m just very thankful that the fans are aware of Volbeat and the radio stations play our songs. I’m very thankful for it. It’s a good feeling, because it’s tough times these days. We appreciate it.”
Revolver called Servant Of The Mind “excellent… the darkest and heaviest Volbeat offering yet.” For the LP, the band, which consists of Poulsen, Jon Larsen (drums), Rob Caggiano (guitars) and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass), took its signature heavy metal, psychobilly and punk ‘n’ roll sound up a notch while showcasing Poulsen’s keen ability for songwriting and storytelling. “Rarely has such a successful band sounded so ravenous,” says Kerrang! magazine of the album.
Servant Of The Mind was written and recorded during the shutdown and quarantine necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The album includes the “double barrel” of summer songs the band released this past June: “Wait A Minute My Girl” and “Dagen Før” (featuring Stine Bramsen), the former of which became the band’s ninth number one single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Volbeat have racked up nearly three billion cumulative streams over the course of its career, notched a “Best Metal Performance” Grammy nomination for “Room 24” (featuring King Diamond) from 2014’s acclaimed (and gold-selling) Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, and they have also grabbed multiple Danish Music Awards.
Since forming in 2001, Volbeat have gone from the clubs of Copenhagen to headlining stages around the world, including the famed Telia Parken stadium in Denmark (becoming the only domestic artist to ever sell out the venue). Over the course of seven record-breaking albums the band has picked up number one songs (including nine No. 1s on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and counting, the most of any band based outside of North America), multi-platinum certifications, awards and accolades all over the planet.
Most recently, they contributed a cover of “Don’t Tread On Me” to The Metallica Blacklist, with all proceeds from the track benefiting Metallica’s All Within My Hands foundation and the Børne Cancer Fonden of Denmark.