It has been thirty years since Mushroomhead has started their musical journey. This genre mixing band created even more intrigue with their masked faces and costumes. Since then, they have showed no signs of stopping and have continued to develop a strong following. On August 9th, 2024, they are releasing their 13th studio album titled, Call The Devil, through Napalm Records.
In 1993, some Cleveland, Ohio musicians decided to do something different, not only musically but visually. Steve “Skinny” Felton (drums, vocals, keys, percussion), has continued this adventure with many people along the way. Call The Devil includes musicians: Steve Rauckhorst (vocals), Scott Beck (vocals), Jackie LaPonza (vocals), Dave Felton (guitar), Joe Gall (guitar), Ryan Farrell (guitar, bass, keys), Aydin Kerr (drums, percussion), and Robert Godsey (drums, percussion). This album is a mixed bag of genres, musical shifts, melodic to heavy, and intriguing compositions, which is what they are known for. They are continually throwing out surprises to keep the listener entertained, and this new album might be the best one yet.
Call The Devil begins with “Eye to Eye”, which has a fun redneck style clip of banjo playing before melting into a heavy riff and sirens blaring. There is a fun musical shift toward the end where the drums take over and give a breath in the song. My personal favorites are, “UIOP” which has a creepy and haunting vibe with vocals that match. It takes you on a ride along with it, and I love that when a song is able to do that, and “Grand Gesture” that starts with a circus style beginning and transitions into a Faith No More style composition and vocal approach. It is an incredible album all the way through and will be showing up on my top list of 2024.
Skinny was kind enough to sit down with Metal Nation to discuss this release and the process behind Mushroomhead. (If you are viewing from your phone, please scroll to the bottom of the page and click, “View Desktop Version” to gain video and interview access).