Volbeat just scored their twelfth No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart with “Time Will Heal,” which is either a miracle or a statistical inevitability, depending on how you feel about guitar solos in the year 2025. It’s the kind of record that shouldn’t even exist anymore — not because Volbeat doesn’t deserve it, but because the idea of chart dominance feels like a relic from when MTV still had a pulse and everyone agreed that “rock” was a genre that meant something more than just “not hip-hop.”
But here we are: the most successful non–North American rock band in Billboard’s Mainstream Rock history is a group of Danish dudes who built a career by asking, “What if Metallica grew up listening to Elvis?” and then refusing to ever stop asking that question.
Their new single “Time Will Heal” follows “By a Monster’s Hand,” which itself followed eleven other songs that sound like what would happen if Misfits, Johnny Cash, and every tattoo on a Harley-Davidson enthusiast’s arm got together and formed a government. Together, those two tracks live on God of Angels Trust, an album title that sounds suspiciously like it was translated from English into Danish and then back into English again, and somehow improved in the process.
Volbeat’s frontman, Michael Poulsen, has always projected the energy of a man who believes rock should be both sincere and loud enough to make sincerity irrelevant. His voice is basically what would happen if Elvis Presley took up boxing and then got drafted into a Slayer tribute band. And that’s the genius of Volbeat: they’re a band that knows exactly what they are, and they never pretend otherwise.
Of course, this consistent success comes with its own weird metaphysics. A twelfth number one isn’t just a victory — it’s a reminder that Volbeat might be the last band on Earth still playing by the old rules and actually winning. They’re proof that Europe can still export something to America besides DJs and post-irony.
Volbeat’s God of Angels Trust was released June 6, 2025. Suppose you’ve somehow missed the band’s 145 gold and platinum certifications (or their Grammy nomination for the King Diamond–assisted “Room 24”). In that case, it’s probably because they were too busy touring arenas full of people who still think rock music should feel like a western about demons.
So yes, “Time Will Heal” just gave Volbeat their twelfth Billboard No. 1. But the bigger story might be this: in a world where every genre is collapsing under its own self-awareness, Volbeat keeps being Volbeat — unironically, unflinchingly, and unmistakably Danish.
Feature Image Photo Credit: Brittany Bowman
