For more than 20 years, vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulsen has been spearheading Danish rock and roll machine Volbeat, releasing eight full-lengths, selling millions of albums, and filling stadiums worldwide. Before fronting Volbeat, however, Poulsen formed death metal band Dominus, which recorded four fast, brutal albums in the mid '90s.
When Poulsen was putting together songs for Volbeat's 2021 album, Servant of the Mind, he wrote a bunch of death metal riffs and saved them on his phone. Then, when he was done with the Volbeat record, he reopened the rusty gates to Armageddon and started putting together songs for his new death metal band Asinhell, whose debut album Impii Hora (Latin for "Ungodly Hour"), is a tribute to Poulsen's favorite old-school groups.
Impii Hora was originally released September 29, 2023 via Metal Blade. Get it here.
Today, the band has shared the video for the title track. Watch it below.
The video comes on the one-year anniversary of the album release. The footage was shot in Berlin during the band's recent European tour.
"It means 'Ungodly Hour' in Latin and the song is about all these evil, vile, and terrible acts that get committed in this Ungodly Hour," shares Poulsen about the title. "It's definitely an anti-religion song. Basically, we are not churchgoers, but on the other hand, I totally respect people who believe in something. But religion, to me, is the oppression that comes with being a part of the church. That's the oppressive thing, not the belief in some high, holy spirit. To me, the anti-religion stuff is more about what people have done to believers — trying to manipulate people to follow them, which is an autocratic kind of thing."
It follows last spring's video for "Pyromantic Scryer." Watch it here.
Poulsen has rekindled the death metal fire that fueled his first band Dominus. He began jamming on riffs with longtime friend and neighbor, drummer Morten Toft Hansen (Raunchy). The two started playing in Morten's tiny garage: no mics, no P.A. — just a drum kit and a combo amp turned all the way up like they used when they were teenagers. Soon, the pair were completing a new song every time they got together. When it came time to add vocals, Poulsen turned to his good friend, who also happened to be one of his all-time favorite death metal growlers: Marc Grewe (Insidious Disease, ex-Morgoth).
"I had known Michael quite a long time and he always mentioned that we should do a death metal project one day, but I never took him too seriously because he was so busy with Volbeat," Grewe says. "Then he called for real and said, 'Yeah, I want to do it now. Are you up for it?' Immediately, I was like, 'Yes, of course!'"
With Asinhell fully formed, the three convened with Volbeat producer Jacob Hansen to produce, mix, and play bass on their debut album. When it was time to add lead guitar to the album, Michael looked no further than friend and The Arcane Order axeman Flemming C. Lund.
ASINHELL ARE:
Michael Poulsen — Guitar
Marc Grewe — Vocals
Morten Toft Hansen — Drums
