Puscifer, at this point in their storied discography, are more defined by the spaces they’ve left open than the ones they’ve occupied. The amorphous brainchild of Maynard James Keenan has been one of the most imaginative bands of its time, stretching its songwriting and open-mindedness to rock’s most experimental corners, employing loose definitions to set new standards for itself time and time again. What started as a solo project with a rotating cast went on to permanently include Keenan, Mat Mitchell, and Carina Round, solidifying a trio that only bolstered Puscifer’s lofty visions, so much so that the name itself has nearly transcended the musicians that founded it, sitting high as an outlet for the unrelenting creativity of this three-piece.
From comic books to a reputation as a must-see live band and for having some of the most vivid and memorable music videos, Puscifer is a three-headed monster just waiting to be unleashed, and that time has arrived. Normal Isn’t, the band’s first studio album since 2020, is a raw, poetic letter to the world that surrounds Puscifer, and all of us, for that matter. Rather than creating a vivid world for the listener to get lost in, the trio steps into our reality for eleven songs, and their findings are anything but pleasing. There is a bubbling, chugging anger to these songs that is palpable, almost as if Puscifer took on the emotional weight of the world’s bottled-up frustration and unleashed it through searing tones and left-field harmonies. Normal Isn’t finds Puscifer fed up with the state of the world, and they don’t want anyone walking away from this LP without taking a new lease on life with them.
Normal Isn’t is Puscifer’s protest album, a reflection of modern times through the lens of three musicians longing for any sort of sense or logic to it all. There is a bluntness to these songs that leaves almost nothing to the imagination, taking aim at propaganda, the politicians and personalities who push it, and the destruction this band intends to leave in their wake. This isn’t a band reporting on a division we’re all aware of; Puscifer is taking a stance, and they’re holding nothing back. As if reporting from an inevitable apocalypse only they experienced, Puscifer is penning some of the most empathetic songs of their career, and delivering them in the most Puscifer way they can imagine.
By sonically retreating into their most daring visions, the band packages their croons of dismay in hypnotic rock music. The dynamic and thought-provoking tracklist is just as restless as the lyrics Puscifer wrote for Normal Isn’t, creating a marriage between the ethereal and reality. The synth-heavy single “Pendulum” begins to paint this relationship but only scratches the surface of how tightly wound the band is, as it interlocks these two worlds. A song like “The Quiet Parts” leaps with animated percussion and psychedelic guitars, while reminding the listener that we are seeing history repeat itself on the daily news, and the anthemic title track tints the band’s vexation with a poetic longing.
The band continues to thrive in this middle ground between the fractured world and their alien-like sonics, on moments like the thudding, urgent “Self Evident,” with its cascading harmonies, and the sample-heavy “Seven One.” It is in these moments that the message behind Normal Isn’t becomes clear, but Puscifer doesn’t remain as composed throughout. Moments like the album opener “Thrust” and “The Algorithm” feature Puscifer’s signature sonic tricks but lack the maturity that makes the rest of Normal Isn’t such a success, almost as if these songs are childlike tantrums compared to the prophetic, transportive “Mantastic.”
Puscifer has always done their best work when inviting the listener into the musical universes they create with their albums, but Normal Isn’t is the moment this otherworldly band creates from our side of the fence. These eleven songs capture the socio-political climate we all see through our phones and bombard it with harsh criticisms and reality checks, a much-needed reprieve from the constant questioning one must do to stay sane.
