UMUR
"Rebel Meets Rebel" is the debut full-length studio album by US collaborative heavy metal/country project D.A.C. & CFH (David Allan Coe and Cowboys from Hell), usually just refered to as Rebel Meets Rebel. The project was initiated after Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and country singer/guitarist David Allan Coe met up in the late nineties and came up with the idea to write and record a country metal album. The material for the album was recorded at various touring and recording breaks from the involved musician´s main bands in the years 1999 - 2003. The drums and bass on the album are handled by Dimebag Darrell´s two Pantera bandmates Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown. So the lineup consists of 3/4 of Pantera.
But while there are occasional nods toward the groove oriented heavy/thrash sound of Pantera, the music on "Rebel Meets Rebel" is predominantly more simple blues/country oriented heavy metal with lyrics about getting drunk and doing drugs. There are a couple of more serious lyrics on the album, but they are few. Some of the lyrics are incredibly juvenile, but it´s "Cowboys Do More Dope" that takes the stupidity prize. When David Allan Coe sings the line: "Cowboys Do More Dope, Than Rock´n´rollers", in the chorus to that song, as if it´s something to be proud of, I´m really left wondering if they are being serious. An unofficial competition on how many drugs country musicians and rock musicians can consume? It´s probably just some sort of butch humour (or maybe delivered with a gleam in the eye?) that I´m immune to or something like that, but to my ears it´s just stupid. If I want to read lyrics like that, I´ll take Nashville Pussy anyday over this. At least they deliver their music and lyrics with conviction.
Because that´s another issue with the music on "Rebel Meets Rebel". For the most part it´s pretty tame and uninspired and David Allan Coe country singing doesn´t go well with the distorted guitar riffing and clicky metallic bass. The contrasts simply don´t work well together. The only track that really got me off my chair in excitement was the opening track "Nothin' to Lose", which is basically an energetic blues rocker. It´s more or less copied on "One Nite Stands", but doesn´t work as well the second time around. "Get Outta My Life" is one of the few other standout tracks on the album and features vocals by Hank Williams III.
The album is as such both well produced and the music well played, but the songwriting and the odd combination of country music and heavy metal (and those juvenile lyrics) just don´t work well and while the boys probably had fun recording "Rebel Meets Rebel", it´s not exactly an album I can´t live without. The fact that it was released several years after it was recorded (and on Vinnie Paul´s own label) could indicate, that despite Pantera´s fame, this project had a hard time getting a label deal. Of course Dimebag Darrell´s murder in 2004, could have something to do with the delay of the release too. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.