Asinhell Impii Hora Debut Album CD

Asinhell's debut album, Impii Hora, on a standard CD pressing.

Michael Poulsen has spent over 20 years driving the Danish rock and roll machine Volbeat — eight full lengths, millions of albums sold, stadiums filled worldwide. Before that, though, he fronted the death metal band Dominus, which cut four fast, brutal records in the mid '90s.

While writing songs for Volbeat's 2021 album, Servant of the Mind, Poulsen stacked up a pile of death metal riffs and parked them on his hard drive. Once the Volbeat record was finished, he reopened the rusty gates to Armageddon and started assembling material for Asinhell. The debut, Impii Hora — Latin for Ungodly Hour — pays tribute to the old-school groups Poulsen grew up on.

Riffs come crushing here, with strong guitar hooks and shout-along refrains layered on top. Poulsen handles vocals in Volbeat and did the same for Dominus, but fronting Asinhell wasn't the plan. In March 2022 he called an old friend, ex-Morgoth singer Marc Grewe of Insidious Disease, and asked him to join. Drummer friends from established bands came up first; he landed on Morten Toft Hansen of Danish group Raunchy. Morten plays like a fiend possessed — and their six-year-old daughters are good friends, plus it's a ten-minute drive to his place.