No one will accuse
Mushroomhead of not having an intriguing image; on stage, most of their members wear black masks that look like a cross between S&M/bondage masks and World War I-style gas masks. The exception is the member who wears
Kiss-like clown makeup instead.
Mushroomhead's unusual look is definitely an attention-getter, but having an interesting image wouldn't mean much if the Cleveland band didn't have some worthwhile music to go with it. Thankfully,
Mushroomhead's music is as creative as their image;
XX, in fact, is among the most ambitious
alternative metal releases of 2001. Far from generic, this CD successfully fuses
alt-metal with everything from
hip-hop,
punk, and
goth rock to
industrial and
techno. Plenty of headbangers have jumped on the
rap-metal bandwagon, but how many
metal bands that incorporate a lot of rapping also incorporate
goth,
industrial, and
techno elements? At times,
XX almost sounds like
Rage Against the Machine meets
Ministry by way of
Bauhaus -- with some
techno/
rave exuberance added to the mix. That isn't exactly the most conventional mixture in the world, and the nice thing is that
Mushroomhead's experimentation always sounds organic rather than forced or unnatural. Anyone who is seeking something fresh and risk-taking from
alternative metal should make a point of hearing this superb CD. ~ Alex Henderson