[.ca] Xx

From Amazon.com:
Although classifiable as nu metal, the nine-piece Mushroomhead don't rest on the sugar hooks or one-shot blasts that are associated with the genre, instead expanding and twisting ideas in a manner that's genuinely bizarre and thoroughly entertaining. "Before I Die" is a furious headbanger, while "Never Let It Go" is reminiscent of Faith No More circa Angel Dust, and "Born of Desire" is like a head-on collision between Slayer and a symphony orchestra. For those who love a raw, serrated riff with no interference, "Episode 29" is 1 minute 35 seconds of pure nectar. Ultimately, this Cleveland group's effort to expertly integrate styles and strains is 98 percent successful. This artistically progressive metal ensemble deserves attention. --Steffan Chirazi

Chronique amazon.fr:
Cela démarre très fort, par "Before I Die" qui, progressiveemnt, prend des tours avant de s'emballer dans le rouge. Sur la longueur, l'album n'est malheureusement pas de cet acabit, mais honnête tout de même et hautement recommandable. Mushroomhead est un véritable collectif qui, sur le socle du classique power trio guitare-basse-batterie, accroche machines, échantillonneurs et claviers en tout genre, boosté par deux chanteurs hurleurs évoquant les meilleurs moments énergiques de Ministry. La formation ratisse à tout va, tant du côté du metal (surtout) que de l'indus mâtiné de techno, voire de new wave. Amusante, la pochette de ce qautrième opus est plus qu'un clin d'oeil à la dégaine de vengeurs masqués des membres de Slipknot. --Hervé Comte

Whoa...:
This Cd is like nothing I have ever heard before...It has the two vocalists singing at the same time one muttering or screaming in a low voice, and the other singing in an altogether creepy high voice, kinda like Korn's Jonathan Davis. In the background are loud guitars, a bass, drums, and a loud piano. Yes, piano. The lyrics are out of this world. THere is no Slipknot-ish screaming about " i wanna chop off your head and f22@ the wound" ( yes, direct quote). Instead the lyrics are either meaningful and powerful or enigmatic and creepy. And unlike other metal bands, they are not profane, and none of their albums have a parental advisory sticker. Do not be fooled by those who say this band is slipknot wannabe. This is unlike slipknot in everyway. I like almost every single song.I dont like the song 43 very much though, because it's all screaming and no singing. So buy it, you will be blown away.

UNIQUE doesn't begin to describe it....:
when one listens to mushroom head, one has the sense of being violated and raped up the ass by some unknown petifile celestial being (AND THATS NOT A GOOD THING!!! JUST SO YOU PEOPLE KNOW!!!). Not only do you realize that you have wasted your money on such lack talented s**t (with possibly the WORST vocals i have ever f**king heard!!! and im including country singers in with this) but your also hurting your ears and destroying brain cells every second this cd plays in your cd player. Do yourself a favor and stay as far away from this band as you possibly can. If you like real music than check out anything ranging from Dying Fetus, Opeth, Cephallic Carnage, or Mastodon. But do not listen to Mushroom head!!!! and if you like this band, then do the whole TRUE metal community a favor and just kill yourselfs! :)

To all these slipknot vs mushroomhead kiddies....:
Ok, look. I am a HUGE fan of both Mushroomhead and Slipknot. So, don't get me wrong. Mushroomhead has been around since about 91' or 93' (I know being from Cleveland). Who knows, and who cares who wore masks first. I know the whole Roadrunner Records story of how R-runner wanted Mushroomhead to sign with them and they didn't, and then a couple of months later all of a sudden Slipknot was signed with them and looked just like Mushroomhead. Whatever, I remember everyone in the Cleveland area was pissed, but first of all they sound soooo different and to be honest, GWAR and Devo and bands like that started the whole mask/uniform wearing thing. It was probably all just by chance. Who cares anyway! But, I will say this to that dude from Feb. 2nd from Midwest USA talking about how XX sounds like a rip-off of Slipknot's debut- don't be a fool. Just about every song on this album is from before Slipknot was even around (years 93'-96'). So know what you're talking about before you talk. And to all of these 30 year olds and older headbangers/thrashers who keep saying that these nu-metal bands like Mushroomhead, Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, Lamb of God, Nothingface and even Poison the Well or Damageplan suck and have no "skill", again, don't be fools. Mad respect to Metallica and Megadeath or other old-school bands like that, but let it go. Times change. Plus it is bands like Cannibal Corpse who have no skill (at least compared to Mushroomhead). All they do is growl and pound on the double-bass and play speed guitar. Every song sounds the EXACT same. Every song on this album is awesome. BWOMP with its rapping from J-Mann and NEVER LET IT GO with the battling vocals between him and Hatrix (Jeffrey Nothing), where else do you hear that? THESE FILTHY HANDS is also soooosooo original with its keyboards and heavy guitars. Everyone who enjoys metal needs to hear this album plus their XIII. If you get a chance, see them in concert and even purchase their Superbuick, Self Titled, Remix or M3 albums too. Hope my review didn't really offend anyone and was moderately helpful. Peace!!

Heavy, Powerfull, Moving: Mushroomhead Has it All!:
This is my second Mushroomhead album (my first being their newest effort, "Xiii"), and at first, I wasn't to impressed. But, just like "Xiii" did, this album grew on me. I had heard of the band long ago and checked them out but was turned off when I heard the vocals. I couldn't stand them. But then, in August of '03, I bought the "Freddy vs. Jason" soundtrack, which features their song "Sun Doesn't Rise", and I loved it, so I took a chance, and bought "Xiii". As I said before, I was not too terribly impressed with that album at first, either, but it grew on me, and I love it now, so I had to get this album. A good move on my part. I started listening to the CD with track one "Before I Die", and was satisfied. Heavy music, catchy riff, but it lacked the one thing Mushroomhead masters: great lyrics. The lyrics on this particular song are very generic and uninspired ("Set me free / Let me be / Who and what I am"). It's nothing that couldn't be found on a Limp Bizkit album. But I'm not saying this is a bad track; in fact, it's one of my favorites. But the track really picks up with the haunting and super catchy "Solitaire / Unraveling", which features the great exchanging vocals between Mann and Nothing that I have become so fond of. Let me take some time to talk about that. Now, a lot of bands have two vocalists: Dimmu Borgir, Linkin Park, Rancid, Lacuna Coil, From Autumn to Ashes, Killswitch Engage), but I think Mushroomhead uses them the best. Mann and Nothing's voices play so well of each other it's like they're one singer. And I like how one will sometimes be singing something with the other singing something else in the background, which I think doubles the impact. While bands like Linkin Park have their vocalists take turns, Mushroomhead, a lot of the time, puts both of them to work. My favorite track on the album, the errie yet beautiful "These Filthy Hands", is probably the most accessible on the album, but by no means MTV. I love the lyrics. Also, I'd like to comment on the chorus vocals of "Xeroxed". AMAZING WORK. They sound just like a death metal band's! I'm not saying Mushroomhead should be a death metal band because they're better than most anyway, but it would be an interesting little twist if they used this technique more often. So, if you haven't already, give Mushroomhead a listen, because they are amazing musicians. I'd start with "Xiii", because despite how good this album is, that one's better.

Get XIII instead:
The first Mushroomhead album that I bought was XIII, which was kick-ass. Then I decided to buy XX. XX disappointed me. The singer's voice and his lyrics sucked. The music also sucked, because the band mixed in all sorts of keyboard and technoish junk. None of the songs had a good chorus, and the band just seemed to go on and on with uncatchy lyrics. XX is an unorthodox hard rock/metal album, unlike the more conventional XIII. XIII is a much better album, and I like it a lot. I think the band put much more effort into XIII than in XX. Go buy XIII.

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