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I can’t believe that I am sitting here typing about an Al Jourgensen country album. Part of me can’t believe the debut from Jourgensen’s country alter-ego Buck Satan is finally available while another part of me can’t believe AL JOURGENSEN MADE A COUNTRY ALBUM! Like a mix between Crazy Heart, Reverend Horton Heat and the Rebel Meets Rebel album by David Allan Coe and three fourths of Pantera, Jourgensen’s alter ego Buck Satan is a an evil industrial country hellraiser with a debut that’s gonna surprise a lot of old school fans.

Jourgensen isn’t the only stand out here. Joining Uncle Al on this crazy adventure are Static-X/Ministry/Prong bassist Tony Campos, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, and Ministry/Rigor Mortis axe-slasher Mike Scaccia who absolutely delivers on each and every track of Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free.

Considering Jourgensen produced Reverend Horton Heat’s Liquor In The Front almost 20 years ago (About the time this project started gestating), then Buck Satan shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The surprise is really at how well Jourgensen and co-conspirators pulled off their own version of an authentic country album. If you were worried that this wasn’t the same guy who created “Just One Fix”, the drum machine that kicks off “Quicker Than Liquor” should calm your nerves slightly. That is, of course, until the slide guitars and harmonicas start squealing away and Uncle Al starts singing. Yes singing.

Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free, if nothing else, is just a solid album through and through. “What’s Wrong With Me” sees Jourgensen using his Ministry screech once again. “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” lets Campos lay down a country groove and again lets Mike Scaccia shine during the solo.

“Medication Nation” is probably the best example of the overall sound of Buck Satan. It’s a spaced out, hopped up country hoedown with Al switching effortlessly from a scream to an earnest sung melody over a driving beat, a great solo by Scaccia followed by a scorching fiddle line. Other highlights include a cover of the Grateful Dead classic “Friend of the Devil” and the hyper “Sleepless Nights and Bar Room Fights”.

If you’re a fan of country music, you’re gonna like this. If you’re a fan of Ministry, you’re gonna like this. If you’re not a fan of country music but a fan of Al, you’re gonna like this. It’s likable. Very.

Buck Satan And The 666 Shooters’  Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free is available now on AFM/13th Planet Records. Get your copy here.

Grade: B+