Honestly, I’ve never really listened to Mushroomhead except for a few track (namely “12 Hundred”, “Save Us”, and “Soul Is Mine”). I’ve always just leaned towards Slipknot because both of their styles are similar, but I don’t get into that crazy ridiculous bullshit feud that goes on between those two. If you don’t already know, there has been a feud between Slipknot and Mushroomhead fans where it has been claimed that one band is copying the other. It has lasted so long because both sides have been saying the same arguments, giving the same reasons, and never getting the fuck over it. I personally don’t understand it. I mean come on. . . One band is similar to another. Big deal. You like one, you may not like the other, you pick one, and then you move on. That feud has to end, and I fully encourage that tour that has been spoken of that has Slipknot, Mushroomhead, and Mudvayne in one big badass tour that will hopefully settle the feud, even though that wouldn’t be the main purpose of it. But the feud is clearly not the point of this review. Otherwise this would get us nowhere.

I’ve heard quite a lot of songs by Mushroomhead, and have never really “enjoyed” a lot of them but I have found them to sound interesting. If there were to ever have been an album that would bring me into the Mushroomhead community, this is that album. When I first saw this album was coming out I wasn’t “thrilled”, but I was intrigued. And might as well review it, you know? Big band. New album. Why not? It’ll give me something to talk about for another day and then I can move onto whatever else is released. And I didn’t think I was going to find this album in its full original version easily, especially before its release in America. But (son of a bitch. . . ) I went onto Youtube this afternoon, typed in the name of the album, and lo and behold there was each song from the album posted by some guy from Europe I believe, Spain if I had to guess. The quality was good, so naturally I sat down, put on my headset and hit play.

“The Righteous & the Butterfly” wasn’t too heavy, but it was heavy enough. Some of the tracks went slightly out of bounds for metal bands. For example, “QWERTY” to me sounded like a slightly psychotic song rooted in rap music, but then the chorus being heavy and catchy enough to keep people hooked into it and wanting to hear more. When I first heard the single I thought it was good, but it made me skeptical on what the rest of the album would turn out to be like. Would it all be like that? Will it have elements rooted in rap? Or will it even have a “softer” tone compared to some of their earlier work that I’ve heard in the past? I didn’t know to expect, but I still listened to the album with the confidence that it wouldn’t let me down. And it didn’t, which was very well done. I hadn’t thought that Mushroomhead could make an album that would make people like me who have only ever liked a few of their songs, like them more in one album in one big fell swoop. A good chunk of the album has me doing a slight head bang while tapping my foot to the sound of the tracks blazing by at a speed that was highly satisfying. The overall tone of the piece was dark, obviously (even more obvious to long time fans of the band), and went really well with the type of guitar notes, vocals, and drum beats they had in here (much like Korn’s “Issues” or “Paradigm Shift” if you want an idea). The vocals have you gripped in a trance that’ll have you listen to the music which will sound like a masterpiece of a band that has put a lot of hard work into the creation of such an album that you’ll have no choice but to at least appreciate the sound if you don’t quite enjoy that type of music. But if you don’t like their type of music, then why would you listen to them in the first place? So naturally, if you willingly listened to this album, chances are you’re going to like it. And if you still don’t well then I implore you to give it another shot and listen to it more carefully than you did the first time.

 

BUY “The Righteous and the Butterfly” on iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-righteous-the-butterfly/id855229798

LISTEN to “The Righteous and the Butterfly” : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf2rIzjtmduI7u4guaVnB-azb5dHrTQl3

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