Maynard, Carina and Mat still hold on to hope in the face of hopelessness on Puscifer’s superb fifth album.
If you want an indication of Maynard James Keenan’s disillusionment with the state of the world, you need only look at the evolution of the characters he most readily associates himself with.
Back in 2021, it was Jack Nicholson’s Melvin Udall in 1997’s As Good As It Gets, an aging writer striving to be better, yet frequently undone by his curmudgeonly outbursts.
In 2026, the reference points have become more combustible. Maynard recently conceded to K! that on Thrust, the increasingly unhinged opening track from Puscifer’s fifth album, he’s more akin to William ‘D-Fens‘ Foster, Michael Douglas’ character in 1993’s Falling Down, a man sent careering over the edge by the relentless ugliness and selfishness around him. ‘Trying not to murder’s a daily fucking battle,’ suggests Maynard, his voice spiralling out of control, out of tune, and out of sync, to convey the mind-numbing frustration of living in a world in which we are forever ‘thrust into the fray’ of negativity and provocation.
Normal Isn’t arrives five years on from Existential Reckoning. That was a true pandemic album that viewed our circumstances as worsening as Western society, in particular, lost touch with the things that were important, though yet to reach the fulcrum of despair. It also placed emphasis on the importance of community and compassion in pushing back against the division constantly forced upon us. The time since has been brutal, though, with the continued tenure of a U.S. president with a flagrant disregard for anyone but himself, global instability, genocide, AI bros not even hiding their intentions, and the early sniffs of WWIII, all underpinned by the unfurling horrors of the Epstein files. So, what now?
Normal Isn’t is a more subtle beast than Existential Reckoning, a cohesive collection of electro-goth tunes that run deeper, darker, and in tunes like Bad Wolf and ImpetuoUs, hookier than its predecessor. There’s the trademark humour to be had here, particularly on Mantastic, which explores the laughable ostentatiousness and contradictions rife in modern masculinity, but overall proceedings are as serious as the circumstances we face.
Maynard and bandmates Carina Round and Mat Mitchell aren’t here to throw stones, though. None of us are unimpeachable when it comes to this interwoven state of affairs if we’re in possession of the facts but fail to act. The gorgeous The Quiet Parts is perhaps the most timely offering here, encouraging us to heed the words of those whose nefarious intentions are so overt they’re covert, which hits different at a time when dehumanising rhetoric is being normalised. Closing track The Algorithm, meanwhile, takes aim at social media’s role in stupifying us at a time when we could and should be doing something about it.
If Normal Isn’t has an overall message, it’s that it’s important to remember that human civilisation is the subject of ebb and flow – or, as the stuttering, Sisters Of Mercy-esque Pendulum reminds us, a swing back and forth between extremes. We have to hold on, to let love be our overwhelming output, and never let hatred become an everyday reality. And if you, too, believe that the night is darkest before the dawn, Normal Isn’t is the record for you.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Tool, Ulver, Nine Inch Nails
Normal Isn’t is released on February 6 via Rise.
