Crack open the Jack and fill me in with the details, I want to sail the waves of each drop. Not that I am a drunkard or anything, far from it though the bitter taste always do good, but I just had to take a shot of another J.D. OVERDRIVE album. Missing their latest, "The Kindest of Deaths", in favor of a dear colleague of mine at Metal Temple, I made it through to check out their new album, "Wendigo", still under the radar of Polish Metal Mind Productions. It was worth it though my general feel of their works remained quite the same, similar to what I tuned to in their 2013's "Fortune Favors the Brave". Even so, I came to a simple conclusion, the world of Southern / Stoner Metal needs a band like J.D. OVERDRIVE, because they know where the heart is.

Looking closely, the album's motifs serve the band's heritage, a chunk load of inner struggles, social aspects between folks, letting their state of mind flourish between the notes. Still one of the band's grandstands, is their frontman. Still on point, enriching the material with his utter charisma is Wojciech "Suseł" Kałuża, yeah, you might find his inspirations rather quick and understand the concept, but people, this guy proved it right, and can show some of the American origin singers, how to get the job done good in this genre. Musically, J.D. OVERDRIVE might have been strongly possessing the 70s Heavy Rock / Blues grinding of BLACK SABBATH's insight, but here I sensed that they took the challenge of further modernizing things a little bit in contrast to their previous offerings. The grooves are dark and crude, meaty riffing and tight as hell rhythm section that at times could bash your head in. Dominance over the rhythms is one of the band's better traits. I wanted a bit more soloing, as their main guy Michał "Stempel" Stemplowski is definitely a talented player at the strings. Oh well, at least the riffs were crystal enough.

Identical to their past exports, the songwriting of the band remained the same, a lot of chances to be creative. However, often it wasn't easy to connect with several of the tunes on the list. There are a few promises that could blast their way in after a series of hard listens, nonetheless, barely anything that would grab you by the hands and take you with it. The down to earth, slow dripping in tempo, "Hangman's Cove" is thick as an armor plate, a golden memento of everything that tremendous in this music. Taking Grunge into the next level, at least for these guys as there are others that don't really know how to do it, "Burn Those Bridges" profoundly does its role, hearty and heavily Americanized, you can just shout. Quite a Bluesy feel with enriched riffing. "Protectors of All That is Evil", for some reason reminds me of ALICE IN CHAINS, who knows maybe I am right?, is one of those hidden promises, a truly potential hit of the band, a proof that catchiness doesn't need to show itself everywhere. Blazing as the opener, drenched in dirt is "The Creature is Alive", showing a DOWN side, mercilessly pounding the skull. Other recommendations: "Hold That Thought", "Witches & Spies", "New Blood" and "Wasting Daylight".

Not exactly the song remains the same, yet it is noticeable that J.D. OVERDRIVE maintain their level of producing Metal at its stoney edge. Emotive, and with a degree, these guys are interesting and tough enough to reshape your mind.