Another surprise is in the cover of Young the Giant's 'My Body.' Thanks to Poulsen's awesome singing and the blasting guitars, it could pass as a Volbeat anthem. Hard rock and vintage HM are the prevalent sounds here - as heard on cuts like 'Pearl Heart,' the riff-arific 'The Nameless One,' and the aggressive attack in 'The Hangman's Body Count.' The slow, doomy chug of 'Room 24' melds early Black Sabbath to death metal with King Diamond guesting on vocals. Michael Tomas Poulsen's vocals still blend Elvis, James Hetfield, and Keith Caputo, but they growl less they're expressive and natural sounding. His playing style is full of insanely catchy riffs, vamps, and intricate melodies. The songwriting is tight, focused there are lots of hooks, most of them heavy - thanks, no doubt, to Caggiano's presence. While it is accurate to say that this set is more accessible than anything Volbeat has attempted previously, it is also the most ambitious set of tracks they've committed to tape. The sometimes jarring shift from rockabilly to thrash, from death metal to the Johnny Cash-country on previous albums, still happens, but here these sounds often coexist within the same song. While the meld of various kinds of heavy metal, country, and rockabilly is still present here - it is now undoubtedly the sound of Volbeat itself - the lines between those styles are less pronounced. His addition has proved integral to the band's ever evolving sound. A permanent replacement was found in Robert Caggiano, formerly of Anthrax, who was enlisted to produce Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies and play on select tracks. and Canada in support for nearly a year, and parted ways with lead guitarist Thomas Bredahl. In the two-and-half years since Volbeat's wildly successful Beyond Hell/Above Heaven, they've traveled some miles, both literally and figuratively.

Best volbeat album