JD OVERDRIVE

SEX, WHISKEY & SOUTHERN BLOOD

METAL MIND PRODUCTIONS

RELEASED 2011

Poland does Southern Metal! Oh yes!

So what do you know about Polish Metal? Probably more than I do but on this evidence I’m keen to dip my toes in a little deeper into that particular river.

JD Overdrive (They had to change their name from Jack Daniels Overdrive, and that tells a story in itself!) has put together an album of equal parts brutality and restraint. It’s chaos with a Southern Metal flavour and some great musicianship, I’m stunned.

‘A Taste of the South’ that opens with the clinking of a glass of Jack has that Southern Metal groove that is simply infectious, it’s Metallica fuelled by the finest Vodka and it leaves you with your hair in your eyes and you wanting more.

‘Ballbreaker’ is driven by insane bass and is as ‘Stoner’ as it gets, Metal Billy will love these guys! ‘Boot Hill’ just rubs in the fact that these guys really know what they are doing, packed with a power and a passion most old stagers of the genre have trouble in capturing.

It doesn’t stop there though, and in a way the mid section of the album is proof in itself that you don’t need filler. Nothing fails the test and songs like ‘Truth Teller’ have the melodic metal DNA of Pantera meets Megadeth. The sheer power of will that drives one of the real standouts "Stoned To Death" shows that JD-O really has what it takes to make it in the wider metal landscape. Heavy, groove laden, Southern-laced force delivered with precision and without hesitation.

You will love ‘No Man’s Land’ and it’s here and in ‘The Art of Demolition’ that I get a whiff of bands like Creed and Godsmack falling into the melting pot.

The cover of ‘Purple Haze’ proves that you can ‘metalize’ Hendrix, but the killer for me is the abrupt stop and the needle scratch and the song that follows. The riff to ‘Demonize’, which is one of my favourite tracks here, is killer and as good as anything Metallica used to do. Epic metal never looses its appeal and ‘Demonize’ does everything right, and at 7.25 it showcases everything that I love about this band.  Wailing guitars, great vocals and power, raw power that you thought may have been lost when Pantera hung up their Cowboy boots. True it’s a lot more soulful than some of the intense battery on here and that is what makes it such a great song, dare I say it one of my favourite tracks of the year.

The closing track to the album, the ballad ‘Into The Same River’ starts out with a gentle acoustic intro and vocals that remind me a little of Soundgarden, I’m on edge waiting for the power-chord that never comes, instead the strings break in and the bass wanders across a soundscape that has such a depth and beauty you start to wonder what this band is capable of.

Take a chance and check it out, I’m almost certain you won’t be disappointed! The more I listen the more I’m sure that this will make my albums of the year listings.

By Mark Diggins