A first listen to Danish "metal rockers" 's , reveals how completely they've consolidated all the elements they've experimented with since 2007's : punk, roots rock & roll, rockabilly, heavy metal, death metal, country, and '70s hard rock. Power chords, hooky melodies, chanted choruses, lyric themes obsessed with the no-man's land that exists between -- and beyond -- good and evil, and the sense of hard partying recklessness simultaneously reflect influences as wide as , , and . Once more recorded and engineered by extends the narrative that began on with two more chapters in the saga via the tracks and opener The former is a perfect aural illustration of 's ability to integrate seemingly disparate elements by including banjos (courtesy of ), bluesman 's slide guitar work, and the heavy metal axe chugging of and - six-string pyrotechnician . is pure power riffage sent dimensionally askew by 's killer bluesy harmonica work that transforms the tune melodically into something that balances the -esque side of 's melodic sensibilities (on the earliest singles) and late-'70s metal. This cut is followed immediately by the harder, darker, death metal of that nonetheless carries within it an irresistible, nearly anthemic chorus. Likewise with its furious doom-and-gloom intro that gives way to a big, bad, strutting rock & roll stomper. recalls the ' in approach, yet is heavier still. The thrash end happens on with guest vocals by on the verses before adds his trademark lyricism in the chorus. (And this is to say little of the skittering punk-country of an irrepressible love song with teeth.) Any way you slice it, , a skillful repository of so many lineage sounds, are their own thing: a band apart who are sophisticated, accessible, and utterly entertaining as songwriters and performers. Nowhere is this more true than on . [The album was also released with a bonus track, "Still Counting."] ~ Thom Jurek