It’s been a while since I have checked out a Mushroomhead release, but their latest album Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children has been streaming in full over on Aol.com this week so I thought I’d check it out.
I was a fan of 2001’s XX , which was creepy, violent and had this horror movie soundtrack feel running through out it that suited their masked appearances.
A few lineup changes over the years and we arrive in 2010 to see how things have changed.
The first few tracks get the album off to a rocking start with tracks like Come On, Slaughterhouse Road, with all their trademark palm muted riffs and double kicks, as well as the mix of clean and growling vocals (which at times remind me of Disturbed during the album.) The track I’ll Be Here almost has a hard rock feel to it rather than metal, but ends in traditional Mushroomhead fashion, with piano, distant melodic vocals and what sounds like children playing in the background.
The melodic vocals seem to be a standout feature of this album, on tracks like Burn The Bridge and The Harm You Do it sounds at times like a pop song with a metal backing track, not in a bad way, he just has a strong clean vocal style.
Half way through the album things start to change a little and get a bit more varied. Holes In The Void has a creepier feel and slows down the pace from the start of the album. The next track Harvest The Garden starts with a tribal drum intro and then along come the guitars and drums with a real groove feel, and the DJ can also be heard scratching away - would be a possible single if they are still released these days!
Now comes The Harm You Do which changes the pace again. Lots of piano and clean guitars on this one.
Things get heavy again for the next couple of tracks with a few mid-paced rockers. Your Demise brings back the heavy guitars, followed by piano through the verses and probably more guitar solos on this track than any other on the album. Darker Days breaks away from the mid-paced tunes with an 80’s metal/rock riff, a good change in style to the previous songs.
The album closes with Do I Know You? which is a short atmospheric song, with more piano & clean vocals and some sound bites of children playing, with the palm muted guitars creeping into the back ground before the album closes.
While the album is nothing to rave on about, I could imagine it would work really well live, and from what I read they are a great live band. While I wasn’t as impressed with this one as I was with XX, I don't think Mushroomhead fans will be disappointed with this solid release.
Update:
Check out this live video of Come On. Would be good to see more of these songs performed live! Intense!
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