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9000 John Doe

Redneck Is The New Black

Written by: PP on 31/12/2014 01:57:32

Three years have passed by since the hilarious 'hillbilly hardcore' release "Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over" by Aalborg's Southern metallers 9000 John Doe. Continuing within the same theme, the new album is seductively titled "Redneck Is The New Black", and as usual, it sounds like the band are having a ridiculously fun time in the studio while recording. The amount of sheer guitar groove and cheerful enthusiasm in vocalist Tommy Knøs' cheese grater style barks both shine through the production, leaving behind a release where it really sounds like the band are having the best time of their lives while playing these songs. Did I mention there's a shit ton of cowbell on the record yet? You can just imagine the stupidly big grin on the person's face as they're swinging the makeshift instrument around in the studio during "Did She Say That". And what about the song titled "Snaps Till Death"? This is pure Aalborg attitude at its very best, and given how this state of mind resonates in such a thick manner throughout the record, it's a major boost to how convincing 9000 John Doe sound on record.

Fans of the band's earlier output will immediately take note of a much more brutalized sound this time around. Less hardcore oriented and far more entrenched within the stubborn Danish metal mentality of wanting to sound as gratingly heavy as possible, the band are now far more drawn towards Every Time I Die style rip all, tear all type of devastation. There are a few forays into death metal, such as on "Never Corner A Cobra", but fortunately also towards more rock'n'roll oriented approach as we see on "Like A Cannonball". Primarily though, the record is more chaotic, the guitars far heavier, and the vocals razor-sharp in their Keith Buckley influence. Perhaps the most interesting take on the record is the hip hop cameo by Jonny Hefty on "Country Zombie", where the language shifts into Danish all of a sudden in a very fun and surprisingly stylistic change on top of the Danish metal sound. It's a bouncy song to start out with thanks to some creative riffage and a shit ton of groove, but Hefty's part is what really make the song stand out differentiating itself from the rest of the songs on the record.

The overload on attitude is omnipresent throughout the record, and that's what's essentially holding it together. The lack of 'hillbilly hardcore' and increased Danish metal presence is not the way forward, because it's degrading the band's identity and pushing them into the direction of the dozens of generic 'heavy' Danish bands that don't really have the songs going for them. But fortunately 9000 John Doe achieve a good result here through convincing attitude, a heavy reliance on guitar groove, and a couple of very good standout tracks that carry the release on their shoulders. My advice would be to stick with more of a rock'n'roll base and drop the metal influences altogether, because that's what the band are clearly better at writing, at least if you are to judge by "Redneck Is The New Black". Fun record nonetheless.

Download: Redneck Is The New Black, Country Zombie, Did She Say That, Devilish Blues
For the fans of: Every Time I Die, Justin Hate, Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster
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Release date 06.10.2014
Mighty Music