Mushroomhead
XIII

THE REVIEW

They wear masks and criticize Slipknot for copying their idea: these are the first two things I knew about Mushroomhead. For various reasons (lack of time and a bad first impression), it took me a long time to give a more or less decisive judgment on this album, the second chapter from this band after the previous release "XX", which (let's clarify) I do not own. Many might erroneously compare Mushroomhead to Slipknot only because they are part of the same scene and, as mentioned, their faces are covered by colorful masks; the same reasons led to label Mudvayne as "a poor copy of the nine from Des Moines."
So to avoid these inaccuracies, it's better to clarify what kind of band "Mushroomhead" is: they play nu-metal indeed, but not in its most famous interpretation, rather in a darker and gloomier fashion, which deviates from a certain type of livelier and rowdier sound. In short, they are not a copy of Slipknot, nor the new Limp Bizkit, just to be clear; however, with this, I just wanted to describe the type of music they make, and let's clarify immediately, we are not looking at an innovative album that will go down in history, rather a fairly enjoyable album but with, in my opinion, still many (too many) shortcomings.

But let's get into the details of "XIII"... The first thing I noticed about this work is the continuous switch between the voices of the two singers: the "clean" one of Jeffrey Nothing (used for melodic and calm parts) and the "scream" one of J Mann (used for aggressive and rapped parts); a choice I liked a lot and that provides a little more "sparkle" to an album that would otherwise be much flatter. The sounds presented by the album are multiple and include scream-rapped parts, melodic parts, gothic hints, dark parts with keyboard and piano, samples, and lots of electronics. Having all this in play can become a double-edged sword, and it seems that Mush have halfway (and not that well...) accomplished their "mission."
The album's highlight, in my opinion, is "Sun Doesn't Rise," simply stunning; it hit me from the first listen (the rap-scream part is very beautiful), but it will only be an isolated episode. "Eternal" is the most powerful song on the album, at times touching on death metal sounds, another excellent piece, even though the tones lower a bit in the chorus to make room for Jeffrey's melodic voice. The concluding track, "Thirteen", consists of five instrumental minutes accompanied by various background sounds serving as a prelude to the bonus track "Crazy", a cover of Seal's hit; it's the album's most "pop" song, yet it's one of the best tracks on the CD. A note for "The Dream Is Over", featuring a duet between J Mann and Jens Kidman, singer for Meshuggah; the difference between Mann's low and hoarse tone and Kidman's powerful and majestic voice is evident. As already mentioned, there are a handful of good pieces, and the rest of the tracks pale in comparison to those previously cited (at least for me), an example being the initial "Kill Tomorrow", unfulfilling and not quite suitable as an opener, and especially "Destroy The World Around Me", the apotheosis of boredom (and the cause of my frustration): it's irritating to hear eight straight minutes (!!!) of song without even a tempo change, something that would keep the listener a bit on edge. To alternate the harder pieces (like "The War Inside" and the aforementioned "Kill Tomorrow" "Sun Doesn't Rise" "Eternal" and "The Dream Is Over") are the more "calm" and melodic pieces like "Nowhere To Go", the quiet "Almost Gone" and the semi-gothic "One More Day" and "Our Own Way". Among these two categories, certainly, the first one is a bit more successful.

Apart from a few good episodes ("Sun Doesn't Rise" above all), the album floats in mere mediocrity and therefore is insufficient as a whole. The reason: Boredom. Perhaps the enjoyment of this album would have been greater if the band had picked up the pace more, but that was not the case.
We're not there yet, but I believe they have the potential to improve... they just need to use it. I am hopeful for the next album.