LIFE LESSONS
The Volbeat frontman and Asinhell guitarist talks Elvis, the underground metal scene, and getting high on running
FROM BRUISING HARD rock to thrashing psychobilly breakdowns, Michael Poulsen is a heavy metal chameleon. Starting out in death metal band Dominus, the formidable Dane quickly realised the heavy music scene needed a makeover - and along came Volbeat, throwing out big anthems infused with the bounce of 50s rock’n’roll.
Although Volbeat’s latest release, 2021’s Servant Of The Mind, was met with acclaim, Michael deemed it a perfect time to switch things up once more. Last year ushered in his most ferocious outing to date - an 80s-tinged underground death metal monster of a side-project called Asinhell. We sat down with the man himself, to understand what motivates his hectic hunt for anew sound.
DREAM BIG
“A lot of kids dream of being firemen, football players or huge wrestlers… but I always wanted to be a rock star. From a very young age, I was a dreamer, lying on the floor with my head between two speakers, listening to music and drifting away for hours. My parents would come in and tell me I was gonna ruin my ears, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
I created this bubble of sound, just fantasising about the performers and how I could surround myself with music.
The idea of becoming amusician wasn’t at the front of my mind, but I was definitely flirting with the idea. The signs were always there.”
IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT
“For my new project, Asinhell, we wanted to be true to the old-school metal sound. Yes, we have access to all this hightech, fancy studio equipment - but we wanted to do it like the old days. Fridays have become ‘Death Metal Fridays’, and we’d rehearse in [drummer] Morten Toft Hansen’s small garage. We even recorded it like we used to, back in the days when we were very young and didn’t have coin for anything. And it was exactly what we wanted.”
STIR THE POT (MUSICALLY SPEAKING)
“When it comes music, everything is about my roots. I started playing death metal when I was 15 or 16, but I also grew up with lots of 50s music. My parents were always listening to Elvis, Johnny Cash and those kind of performers. When I was in my death metal band, Dominus, you weren’t really allowed to mix different elements into the music. So, when I formed Volbeat, Imade it my mission to cram as many different genres and inspirations as possible into the sound. It felt so liberating.”
GETTING OLDER REALLY ISN’T ABAD THING
“I’m 48, and I’m in a very good place in my life. I don’t want to be 17 again. It’s gotten so much harder and stressful for young people. I’m not into social media - it’s quite soulless. I try to keep my kids off technology where I can, making sure they��
