'The New Psychodalia' CD Review

Mushroomhead’s front man Jeffrey Nothing, aka Jeff Hatrix, has released his first solo album, The New Psychodalia. Produced under the music label Suburban Noize, this album fits under alternative metal. Nothing provides an hour worth of music with lucky 13 number of tracks.

Nothing’s solo venture starts off strong with “Dear Departed.” The song has a dark, peculiar tempo with vocals and instruments. “Goodbye” shows off Nothing's great singing voice with good guitar riffs and rhythms. The title track, “Psychodalia,” has a good acoustic feel with well-thought-of lyrics. The prominent keyboard lends a nice cadence to the song. “Burial” has an agreeable rhythm, decent rift, and fine lyrics and singing. “Time” and “Wormwood” are personal favorites of mine. They have haunting musical and lyrical themes. “Devil” has a nice syncretized techno-bass sensation.

The album weakens with songs like “Darkseed” and “Mnemerator.” “Darkseed” sounds like a cheap horror movie track and “Mnemerator” has a three ring circus sound. “Eyez of the Righteous” is a hard rock rift which starts to have a repetitive composition. The track, “Enough,” goes for a hip-hop/rock essence but the twang vocals and tiresome raps leave the song with mind-numbing and cringing tempos.

If you’re a Mushroomhead fan, you will find Nothing’s album different from past albums. It may not be what you’re expecting which doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The New Psychodalia is not straight forward metal but experiments with sound. Each track has its own vision but, due to the musical experimental quest, the album is not cohesive and this hurts Nothing's debut. If you are a fan of Mushroomhead, you’ll either love The New Psychodalia or dislike this album but you should give it a chance and a listen to find out.