Known for his band Behemoth, Nergal decided to explore himself as a musician and give life to a project that reflects other of his musical influences. Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Johnny Cash are some examples of the influences that can be associated with this project.
Recorded with John Porter, this side project named Me and That Man, is an alternative piece of American based folk music, with a lot of dark melancholic melodies, precise lyrics, and an western gringo kind of atmosphere around it. “Songs of Love and Death” is the name of the record, and the listener will find here a very consistent and different piece of music, even from the influences aforementioned, that were mentioned as the pillar for this interesting collection of songs.
The listener can hear in tracks like “My Church is Black”, “Nightride”, “On the Road”, “Cross My Heart In Hope To Die”, “Of Sirens, Vampires and Lovers”, “Love & Death”, “One Day”, “Shaman Blues”, “Voodoo Queen”, and “Ain’t Much Loving”, what the all album is about. The mystic blues feeling can be found all around this release, which it’s pretty defying coming from someone who comes from a black metal background.
Honestly we don’t really know how fans of Behemoth and other metal fans, will see this step in Nergal’s career but one can hope that most listeners will explore and find it refreshing comparing to many of nowadays releases. This break through the other side journey, with a kind of cinematographic feeling around it, it’s the perfect record to play while you’re reading a book or enjoy a good wine. If the listener have the will to do so, just take the chance to listen something different.
8/10
