{"id":11764,"date":"2020-04-29T05:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=11764"},"modified":"2020-04-23T16:57:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T16:57:59","slug":"me-and-that-man-new-man-new-songs-same-shit-vol-1-napalm-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=11764","title":{"rendered":"Me And That Man \u2013 \u2018New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1\u2019 (Napalm Records)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Behemoth main man Adam \u2018Nergal\u2019 Darski started Me And That Man as a solo project with folk stalwart John Porter.\u00a0 Their debut album \u2018Songs Of Love and Death\u2019 released in 2017, was as far removed from the extreme metal of Behemoth as you could get. Bringing together influences of Johnny Cash, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, their sound was an amalgamation of blues, country and folk music all wrapped up in glorious gothic-laced goodness.<\/p>\n

Following the departure of Porter, Nergal called on the extreme metal fraternity to help him out when it came to the challenge of recording \u00a0the sophomore album, fittingly entitled \u2018New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1\u2019. With Nergal taking a back seat in the vocal department, this album features contributions from members of Slipknot, Trivium and Emperor amongst many others…but not as you would know them.<\/p>\n

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First single and album opener \u2018Run With The Devil\u2019 shows a change in direction with a tongue-in-cheek \u2018Deathproof\u2019 style promo video, and a new dark sense of humour. It\u2019s a blast of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll featuring the vocal talents of J\u00f8rgen Munkeby from Norwegian proggers Shining. In the video Nergal and Munkeby can be seen burying a body labelled \u2018John\u2019 and then drinking a toast by chinking bottles labelled \u2018Porter\u2019, an obvious reference to the departed \u2018that man\u2019 and the metaphorical burying of the past. Musically, it\u2019s an upbeat, sleazy blast of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, with cool vocals and saxophone that injects some sass and sex into the gothic melting pot. The \u201cmy heart is pure, but my church is black\u201d refrain is effortlessly cool and carries on Nergal\u2019s continued fight against the church.<\/p>\n

Gothic is still the operative word with Me And That Man. Grave Pleasures vocalist Mat Mcnerney delivers one of the early highlights on \u2018Burning Churches\u2019. \u00a0It\u2019s all Nick Cave poetic lyricism with a Danzig-like vocal delivery. The minimal instrumentation, tribal beats and cool, church choir vocals give a cinematic quality. This could\u2019ve come straight off the \u2018Henry\u2019s Dream\u2019 album if I didn\u2019t know any better.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, \u2018Coming Home\u2019, has Madrugada main man Sivert H\u00f8yem crooning Ian Astbury inspired lyrics like an 80\u2019s goth lord at his finest, while Rome\u2019s J\u00e9rome Reuter keeps things dark and doomy with the Fields Of The Nephilim styled \u2018Man Of The Cross\u2019.<\/p>\n

Then Nergal takes us to church on the soulful and haunting \u2018Surrender\u2019. Featuring the raspy vocals of Dead Soul singer Anders Landelius and sweet slide guitar courtesy of Volbeat\u2019s Rob Caggiano, it builds with intensity to a captivating crescendo.<\/p>\n

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There are many different vocal styles at play, and it could have easily lacked cohesion as an album, but it still flows nicely as a complete body of work. \u2018Deep Down South\u2019 is upbeat, moonshine swiggin\u2019 goodness, featuring banjo, fiddle and harmonica. The duel vocals of Lucifer\u2019s Johanna Sadonis and Hellacopters legend (and Lucifer drummer) Nicke Andersson work perfectly together. Sweet guitar solo too. The Devil went down to Georgia indeed, via Poland and Sweden obviously!<\/p>\n

Emperor main man Ihsahn joins for one of the more spaghetti western themed moments. And I must say you would not know it was him, stripped of the high pitched black, metal screaming and challenged to actually \u2018sing\u2019, he pulls off one of the performances of the album on \u2018By The River\u2019. It\u2019s all ringing chords, Tarantino vibes and drama, with an over the top killer guitar solo that lays the whole place to waste as a climax, cool as you like.<\/p>\n

One of the most surprising highlights is \u2018You Will Be Mine\u2019 featuring Trivium\u2019s Matt Heafy as you\u2019ve never heard him before. The mainly acoustic, laid back track sees the singer bare his soul, out of his comfort zone, crooning Nergal\u2019s dark lyrics to perfection over a burst of chilled harmonica. He nails it perfectly.<\/p>\n

The epic \u2018How Come?\u2019 features Slipknot\u2019s Corey Taylor taking the lead, guitars from Volbeat\u2019s Rob Caggiano and a blistering guitar solo from Mastadon\u2019s Bret Hinds, how could it fail to impress?<\/p>\n

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Hats off to Nergal, with \u2018…Vol 1\u2019 he has succeeded in realising his vision and encouraged all the players to reach out of their comfort zone and become characters in his spaghetti western\/goth rock hybrid. This is how I imagine outlaw country should truly sound. While it\u2019s self-produced, Me and That Man\u2019s sophomore album feels like Rick Rubin has collaborated with Tarantino, stripped the fat, accentuated the cinematic and dark appeal of the songs and produced an upbeat and cohesive body of work that in actual fact just so happens to be a monster of a rock record.<\/p>\n

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