Kingcrimsonprog 2005’s The Strength, The Sound, The Songs is the debut album by the unique Danish Rock/Metal band Volbeat. Released long before their international breakthrough and before former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano joined the band.

This is arguably the heaviest and least eclectic Volbeat album in the catalogue, and probably the least commercial too. Its also probably the only one in their catalogue without a guest appearance from an outside musician. In several ways it stands out from the rest of the catalogue.

That all being said, it is still sounds unarguably Volbeat through and through. For example; Michael Poulsen’s unmistakable Danzig meets Johnny Cash meets James Hetfield meets Elvis Presley voice came out of the gates fully formed. Catchy sing-alongs are still the order of the day. Basically; Apart from the more radio-hard rock moments which would appear with increasing frequency in future releases, much of the band’s trademark blend of styles are still present and accounted for.

Highlights include concert favourite ‘Pool Of Booze, Booze, Booza’ which rumbles along with stoner rock riffs and groove metal chug and highlights the band’s more metallic side, as well as the cover of Dusty Spingfield’s 1963 debut single ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ which highlight’s the band’s fun side, and ‘Always, Wu’ which showcases the band’s Misfits loving, catchy, Woah-Woah filled Punk influenced side. (Try saying that three times fast).

Maybe not their best-selling, or most famous record, but a very strong debut, a sign of things to come, and heavier and more consistent record from start to finish than you may expect. Overall, If you like Volbeat, it’s a must have.

UMUR "The Strength/The Sound/The Songs" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish metal act Volbeat. The album was released through Mascot Records in September 2005. "The Strength/The Sound/The Songs" was recorded by producer Jacob Hansen during two different sessions in August 2003 and July 2004. Five of the tracks from the first session are actually the same as five of the tracks from the "Beat The Meat (2003)" demo. We´re talking the exact same recordings, just featuring, in some cases, different songtitles.

The music on "The Strength/The Sound/The Songs" is heavy metal with a strong 50s rock´n´roll feeling/image and an occassional nod towards harder edged music styles. Lead vocalist Michael Poulsen (who used to be frontman in Danish death metal act Dominus) has a vocal style that can be described as sounding like Keith Caputo (Life of Agony) meets James Hetfield (Metallica). It works well for the most part, but listening to later albums by the band, it´s obvious that Michael Poulsen at this point, still needed some time to hone his vocal skills.

The 55:11 minutes long album features 15 tracks, and if you ask me that´s at least 3 - 5 tracks too much. While tracks like "Caroline Leaving", "Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza" and "Soulweeper" are of a great quality, and the memorability factor is generally high on most of the material, there are simply too many fillers on the album that lack noteworthy hooks. When that is said "The Strength/The Sound/The Songs" is still a pretty great album and I fully understand why it paved the way for one of the greatest adventures in Danish metal history. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.