Mind Equals Blown

Jeffrey Nothing The New Psychodalia

Metal | Suburban Noize Records

MEB Rating:

5.5

User Rating:

10

1 Ratings

Mushroomhead’s discography is a rather vast one, including seven studio albums. For a band that’s been releasing music since the early nineties, it’s easy to forgive a misstep or two. Strangely enough, the biggest misstep comes not in a Mushroomhead album, but the next worst thing: a solo album by Jeffrey Nothing, one of two vocalists making up Mushroomhead. Fittingly called The New Psychodalia, the album is certainly an exercise in pure, psychotic nonsense. Too often Nothing attempts to be dark and original, but falls short, with songs that drone on, and at nearly an hour in length, the album runs out of steam rather quickly.

“Dear Departed” is a promising opener, sounding like it would fit right in perfectly on any decent Mushroomhead album. “Sin O’ Cism” has a gnarly fast-paced opening, and is a quick shot to the face. “Goodbye” is the highest point on the album, featuring an excellent display on vocals. After this point the album takes a plunge into pure ridiculousness with “Mnemerator.” Featuring an absolute cheese-fest of a vocal performance, the song feels like it would be the perfect opening to a three-ring circus act. Perhaps that was Nothing’s intention. Regardless, “Mnemerator” is an absolute silly waste of a track.

“Eyez of the Righteous” starts out with a lot of energy, but quickly loses any relevance with a stale and repetitive feel. Title track “Psychodalia” is unnecessarily long, but takes a turn for a more Alice in Chains feel, with keyboards, of course. At times, the transitions make little sense or feel too forced, but “Psychodalia” manages to be one of the better songs on the record. “Enough” is a laughable track, featuring some of the worst placed raps in the history of the metal/rap combination. Was it a risky approach? Sure, but the end result is an uneven, jumbled mess.

I understand what Nothing was trying to do with The New Psychodalia, I really do. Mushroomhead has always hinted at the more insane side of music, finding darkness to their sound that was unmatched at one time. With a solo album, however, Jeffrey Nothing has proven one thing for sure: by himself, Nothing is, well… nothing special.

My expectations were so very high for a man who was a part of some of my favorite metal of all time, yet the end result is a complete and utter disaster. I hope Nothing got whatever was pushing him to make an album of such subpar quality out of his system and is ready to make relevant music once more. More importantly, I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come for future Mushroomhead releases. I fear, however, that Mushroomhead’s best days (and Nothing’s for that matter) are far, far behind them.

• About the Author

Author: Corey Hoffmeyer View Staff Page for Corey Hoffmeyer

I attend Full Sail University, and am currently in their online Creative Writing for Entertainment program. When I’m not swamped with a truckload of homework, I’m most likely behind my drum set, pretending I know what I’m doing. Other than that, my time consists mostly of writing reviews, screenplays, and anything else you could possibly imagine. Of course, I usually find time in-between my “busy” schedule to watch a vast amount of Supernatural, Lost, The Walking Dead, and various other educational programs.

(1 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)

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