On March 27, 2020, ME AND THAT MAN released "New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1." ME AND THAT MAN is the dark folk and blues side project of Nergal, the long-time front man of the infamous band BEHEMOTH. "New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1." is the project's second release. The project's debut album "Songs Of Love And Death" was released in 2017. That release was the combined effort of Nergal and John Porter, a British/Polish musician. However, in 2018, they parted ways, leaving only Nergal.

Joining Nergal on this release is an impressive lineup of other well-known artists. Other artists that aren't mentioned in the track overview below are Sivert Høyem of MADRUGADA, Anders Landelius of DEAD SOUL, Rob Caggiano of VOLBEAT, Jerome Reuter of ROME, Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR, and Brent Hinds of MASTODON. Now, just because the album is star studded doesn't mean the album is automatically great. What does make this a good album is the commitment to folk and blues genres and the general mood and musical motifs stylistic of those genres.

The opening track, "Run With The Devil," features Jørgen Munkeby of SHINING (the Norwegian one). Aside from contributing his vocals, Jørgen also plays saxophone throughout. The combined effect is a fun blues track. "Burning Churches" features Mat McNerney of GRAVE PLEASURES. It definitely shows that you don't have to play black metal to cover blasphemous subject matter. Though not black metal, "Burning Churches" has the same uneasy darkness. "By The River" features Ihsahn of EMPEROR. It's not as upbeat as the tracks have been so far, but the crooning of Ihsahn resolves with a fantastic guitar solo, one of the best of the album (the other standout guitar solo is on "How Come?"). "Męstwo," which translates from Polish to "manhood," deserves a mention as it is the only song on the record that Nergal sings on, and it is entirely in Polish. This track is simple, but all the more emotive and moving for it.

Most of the tracks on this album exceeded my expectations. If I were to be entirely truthful however, "Deep Down South," which features a duet from Nicke Andersson, of ENTOMBED and LUCIFER, and Johanna Sadonis, also of LUCIFER, is not my preferred style of music in the slightest. Others with a taste for pure Americana might enjoy the upbeat harmonica and pared down banjo and guitar melodies. "You Will Be Mine," which features Matt Heafy of TRIVIUM, is not to my personal taste at first listen either. However, the lyrics and Matt's voice sell the track pretty well.

"Confession," the closing track, is a mournful ballad that features Niklas Kvarforth of SHINING (the Swedish one). SHINING is depressive suicidal black metal, so Niklas isn't a stranger to depressing lyrics. On "Confession," he uses clean vocals, but the track is just as emotional and melancholy since you can tell what he is singing. The last 40 seconds of this track ends with the heaviest moment of the album, something of an acoustic black metal riff and blast beats.

Overall, even though this is not typically a genre that I listen to, I can recommend this album. Since I don't listen to folk or blues, I don't know if it's a particularly unique or original album. However, I can say wholeheartedly that the simple and catchy songs on this album are very enjoyable.