Michael Poulsen–best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter of Danish rock band Volbeat–has shared more details on his new death metal band, Asinhell.
Signed to Metal Blade Records, Asinhell will release its debut album, “Impii Hora” (Latin for “Ungodly Hour”), on Sept. 29, 2023. Pre-order it here. A lyric video for the band’s first single, “Fall of the Loyal Warrior,” can be seen below.
Asinhell consists of Poulsen on guitar, former Morgot vocalist Marc Grewe and drummer Morten Toft Hansen of Raunchy. In addition, according to a July 3 statement released by Poulsen on social media, longtime Volbeat producer Jacob Hansen played bass on the album, while Flemming C. Lund of The Arcane Order contributed guitar solos. Lund also is filling in as lead guitarist for Volbeat at its summer 2023 live shows following the band’s split with Rob Caggiano.
Poulsen’s full statement reads as follows:
“Hello everyone! First of all, lots of thanx for the overwhelming support for the first Asinhell single, ‘Fall of the Loyal Warrior.’
“For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Asinhell is myself on rhythm guitar, Morten Toft Hansen from Raunchy on drums and Marc Grewe from Insidious Disease (and formerly Morgoth) on vocals. My good friend and Volbeat producer Jacob Hansen (Invocator) produced our upcoming album, Impii Hora. As always it was great to work with him, but this time around he also ended up playing bass on the album as well. My other good friend Flemming C. Lund from The Arcane Order and Autumn Leaves (and who is also helping us out on the road with Volbeat this year) added all of the face-melting guitar solos. Finally, Marc’s great friend Dr. Frank Albers used his vast psychological genius to help come up with the brutal lyrics.
“Much more to come soon, dear metal heads!”
Poulsen previously said Asinhell will have no effect on Volbeat, and the two bands will exist simultaneously.
Before starting Volbeat more than 20 years ago, Poulsen fronted the death metal band Dominus, which recorded four 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 started putting together songs for Asinhell.
Discussing “Fall of the Loyal Warrior,” Poulsen said: “The song is kind of a tribute to bands I love, like Bolt Thrower, Entombed, Autopsy, Grave and Darkthrone. They’re the reason why we can do this in the first place, and we’re proud to wear our influences on our sleeve. The album was inspired by late ’80s and early ’90s old school death metal, and one of our brightest points of inspiration was the mighty Death, fronted by the legendary Chuck Schuldiner. There’s a lot of Death in there. Schuldiner is one of my favorite death metal vocalists, the other being our vocalist Marc [Grewe]. So to me, this song is the combination of two of my favorites. ‘Let the metal flow,’ as Chuck would have said!”
“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 said. “Then he called for real and said, ‘Yeah, I want to do it now. Are you up for it?’ Immediately, I was, ‘Yes, of course!’”
The album will be available in the following formats:
- Jewel case CD
- 180g Black Vinyl (Europe excl.)
- Crimson Red Marbled Vinyl (Europe excl.)
- White Vinyl (Europe excl., ltd. 1000)
- Gold/Black Dust (EMP excl., ltd.300)
- Clear w/ Red/White Splatter Vinyl (Europe Band store excl., ltd. 500)
- Silver Vinyl (US excl.)
- Silver w/ Red Splatter Vinyl (US. excl.)
- Black & White Melt Vinyl (US excl.)
- Red/Black Splatter Vinyl (US Band store excl., ltd. 500)
“Impii Hora” track listing:
“Fall of the Loyal Warrior”
“Inner Sancticide”
“Island of Dead Men”
“Trophies”
“The Ultimate Sin”
“Wolfpack Laws”
“Desert of Doom”
“Pyromantic Scryer”
“Impii Hora”
“Foj for Helvede”
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