Don't expect Mushroomhead to cower to the pressure of Mudvayne and Slipknot. Don't expect them to be the next costumed band to remove their trademark masks and reveal their true identities. "No way, buddy, that's not happening. We'll always stick with what we do," proudly confirmed Mushroomheads's drummer and spokesman, Skinny. "Those masks.That's what makes us, us."

That's right, Cleveland's masked death squad is back with a vengeance, leather faced and ready to bring the thunder to your eardrums. Mushroomhead achieved moderate success in 2001 with their Universal Records debut, "XX" which spawned the single "Solitaire Unraveling" and are now looking to truly impact the scene with their 13-track follow-up entitled "XIII," due out on October 14th. "I'm hoping the rest of the world gets shocked, you know, like 'holy shit these guys can play...they can sing,'" laughed Skinny about the new album.

After touring for the past few years and playing the same songs off "XX" on over 180 shows, the drummer said that the band was itching to get into the studio and unload their new ideas. "Man we were ready to record some new stuff. I mean, the old material still kicks ass but, it's like six, seven years old. We got right to work in December and by February we had most of it recorded," Skinny Continued. "This is all brand new stuff, we didn't reuse anything, none of the old songs. Everyone just had their game faces on and we all felt really creative. We stayed at it everyday for 12-hours a day."

"XIII," written and recorded in just 90 days, demonstrates how Mushroomhead have grown and matured since "XX" and have really seemed to have found there own identity and sound within metals often Xeroxed community. "It's quite a different record compared to the last album," proclaimed the stick man, "Not to say that the old album is bad, but that was literally our demos and it just got put out. But, this one I think we actually captured the vibe of the band and where everyone's head is right now. Hopefully this one will put us on the map even further than the last one."

Mushroomhead may get that push they need to go further on the map with the release of their first single "Sun Doesn't Rise." Also featured on the "Freddie Vs Jason" movie soundtrack along side Hatebreed, Chimaira and Slipknot, "Sun Doesn't Rise" is a heavy, melodic track that may very well have the juice to seep onto rock radio and cross the band over to a wider audience. "That was one of the first bunch of ideas we had when we began writing this record," Skinny said. "I think it came out really well."

They recently wrapped the video for the single which was said to have been inspired by the movie "The Ring." "The video is very animated and the band is barely in it," said the stickman. "It's more like a Tool video, we're not performing in it at all, we're not in there jamming or anything, but it's super cool, man."

Formed in '93 as a side project the eight-member band began wearing costumes and masks to disguise themselves from the other bands they were in at the time. Channeling intense aggression, an air for theatrics, a taste for the erotic and a diverse pallet of musical direction Mushroomhead created an unusual sound that appealed to Meatheads, punkers and ravers alike. They quickly became a cult favorite within Cleveland's underground music circuit with a sound that was hailed a cross between Faith No More, Slayer and Rush. They went on to release three Indy albums on Filthy Hands Record's (Mushroomhead, Superbuick, M3) and by 2001 signed with Eclipse Records which they released 'XX." By the end of the same year they were picked up Universal Records and re-released "XX" to the masses.

Now, with "XIII" Mushroomhead is combining elements of heavy metal/ hardcore/ and industrial blending growls with melody over steady rocking beats and blaring guitar riffage but it also takes chances and experiments with new sounds and ideas as well. "Obviously you're not gonna play every song on the album live, so why not make some of those more interesting? Why not try and do something totally different" Skinny asked. "We just kept an open mind and really rocked at it hard, man."

The track "Thirteen" for instance stands as an eerie Celtic styled instrumental track that features a baby's laughter in the background underneath the calm, soothing of strings which gives off a sort of horror movie vibe. "We thought that track was really creepy and gave the album more of a Pink Floyd soundscape kind of thing," says Skinny. "We thought it was great just the way it was and didn't want to make a 'song' out of it. It was just perfect material for setting the tone of this album. You can just picture some Cajun dude walking through the swamp waiting to cut you up.it just has that vibe."

There is also a guest appearance on the song, "The Dream Is Over" which features Meshuggah's own Jens Kidman. "We met Meshuggah last year when we were on Ozzfest and those guys are awesome and became really good friends," the drummer said. "J. Mann and Jens became really tight and he did the song with us and was awesome on it."

Mushroomhead, which is rounded off with Shmotz, J. Mann, Jeffrey Nothing, Pig Benis, Gravy, Bronson and Stitch, will be touring in October in support of "XIII" are psyched about the new album and tighter sound and are determined to spread their heavy metal fungus among us. "We're really trying to get on the map this time around and just reach out there," Skinny said. "I think this band has the potential to be liked by a lot of people cus' we're such a wide variety of musical styles that I think that more people would be interested if they had the opportunity to hear us. Our goal is to just get out there and push this record as hard as we can."

www.mushroomhead.com

© 1998-2003 Sinbad Productions / BallBusterHardMusic.com
No Material, Written, May Be Reproduced Without Permission From SinBad
Prods/Communciations and or the Recording Artist and Their
Representation