Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen Launches New Death Metal Band Asinhell, Debuts Brutal Song + Announces ‘Impii Hora’ Album

Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen is returning to his roots with his new death metal band Asinhell, who have just debuted the brutal new song "Fall of the Loyal Warrior," the opener off the 10-track to the Impii Hora album due this fall.

Before forming Volbeat in 2001, Poulsen was the vocalist/guitarist in Danish death metal group Dominus, who wound up morphing into more of a groove metal band on subsequent albums. In total, the band released four records between 1995 and 2000, and Volbeat ultimately wound up taking their name from Dominus' 1997 effort, Vol.Beat.

Now, he's recruited vocalist Marc Grewe, an underground favorite who once fronted German death metallers Morgoth. It's been a busy year for Grewe, who has already appeared on three albums already in 2023. And rounding out the power trio is Raunchy drummer Morten Toft Hansen.

Poulsen expressed his enthusiasm for the new venture, commenting, "We're very excited to share the first taste of Asinhell with 'Fall of the Loyal Warrior.' 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."

READ MORE: 10 Killer Death Metal Covers of Slayer Songs

Expanding on the pool of influences, Poulsen continues, "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 adds, "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!'"

"Fall of the Loyal Warrior" completely delivers on the expectations laid out by Poulsen, winding back the clock to one of death metal's most iconic eras.

Listen to the song below and view the Impii Hora artwork and track listing further down the page.

Impii Hora will be released on Sept. 29 on Metal Blade and can be pre-ordered here.

"It's such a dream come true for me to get to be on fucking Metal Blade Records," Poulsen exclaims. "When they said they wanted to put out the album, I felt like I was 17 years old again. I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm making a deal with Metal Blade! How cool is that?' It was like I was finally getting the record deal I dreamed of when I was a teenager."

Asinhell, "Fall of the Loyal Warrior"

Asinhell, "Impii Hora" Album Art + Track Listing

01. "Fall of the Loyal Warrior"
02. "Inner Sancticide"
03. "Island of Dead Men"
04. "Trophies"
05. "The Ultimate Sin"
06. "Wolfpack Laws"
07. "Desert of Doom"
08. "Pyromantic Scryer"
09. "Impii Hora"
10. "Foj for Helvede"

PLAYLIST: Modern Death Metal

Over 175 songs! Check it out here.