Cleveland’s masked metal outfit, Mushroomhead, are scheduled to release their eighth studio album on June 19th. The album, titled “A Wonderful Life,” will be the first release from the band in 6 years and the first album to feature new vocalist Steve Rauckhorst. For these reasons, the band will have a lot of eyes watching and ears listening as they move forward. Everyone in the metal community is ready to see what the band have to offer on their upcoming release. I was fortunate enough to get to listen to the album recently and I think that listeners will be very pleased with the direction of the band.

The album starts out with the track “A Requiem For Tomorrow” which treats us to the sounds of beautiful choir music before the destruction officially begins at the thirty second mark. In case you had any doubts about how the band would adapt to Rauckhorst or their new guitarist Tommy Shaffner, your worries will soon be put to rest when you realize this is still the same Mushroomhead that we’ve grown accustomed to. All of the expected elements are incorporated including the electronic elements and the big catchy hooks in the chorus. 

The keyboards set the tone for the next track, “A Madness Within,” providing a really dark texture for the dark lyrical content. Jason Popson and Steve Rauckhorst’s vocals play perfectly against each other in the super catchy track. From here the band get into the song “Seen it All.” This song quickly takes you from Nine Inch Nails all the way to Five Finger Death Punch in less than a minute. It’s easy to see why this song was selected as the lead single from the album. Although it has all of the darkness that one would associate with Mushroomhead, it also has the mainstream accessibility of some of the band’s more popular material such as “Sun Doesn’t Rise.”

The second single from the album, “The Heresy,” is perhaps one of the most powerful songs the band have released to date. Female vocalist Jackie LaPonza is a welcome addition on this track giving it a different vibe overall and adding additional depth to the album. This is another song that is very driven by the keyboards but is one of the tracks where it is very evident how many layers are provided as a result of having eight members in the band. The band seem to have really honed in their skills and know exactly when and how to use the many tools at their disposal. 

The song “Pulse” is a great example of all 3 vocalist working together to create a truly unique sound. The song even has an operatic breakdown at the end that somehow blends seamlessly with the rest of the song. On the song “Carry On,” Popson channels his inner Anthony Kiedis and gives the song a dose of flavor that separates it nicely and helps with the overall flow of the album.

Another shining moment of the album is the track “11th Hour.” This song definitely sees the band veer in a different direction with one of the most melodic songs of the album. The song still has the signature darkness of Mushroomhead but is still probably the closest thing to a rock ballad that the band have released to date. This is definitely the song that fans will be holding up their lighters (and/or cell phones) for at the live show. 

The band close the album with the track “Confutatis” which quite fittingly sees the band revisit the choir music that introduced the album. This time, the music lasts for the entire length of the track versus the thirty second opener. This provides a moment of calm after an album full of devastation and provides a very fitting end to the album, should you choose to end it there. However, the album also features four bonus tracks which are certainly nothing to sneeze at as they are every bit as good as the songs preceding them. The song “Another Ghost” is a perfect example of this. The song is one of the most powerful songs on the whole album. Thankfully the band decided to include it as a bonus track because it would’ve been a disservice to the fans had it not been included. 

Overall, this album will undoubtedly face a lot of criticism from skeptical fans that think the band cannot survive without former vocalists Jeffrey Nothing and Waylon Reavis. However, I personally think that the band have done an excellent job of demonstrating that they are much more than one or two members and it that it takes much more than that to stop a force as powerful as Mushroomhead. Overall, the band have created another solid album to help further cement their legacy in the heavy metal scene. 

I’m Music Magazine Writer Jason Jarvis