PUSCIFER's "Normal Isn't" arrives February 6 via BMG, bringing 55 minutes of dark, guitar-driven post-punk across 11 tracks that represent Maynard James Keenan's most creatively liberated work outside of TOOL and A PERFECT CIRCLE. The album channels the post-punk and new wave influences that shaped Keenan's early musical experiences growing up in Ohio and Michigan, before he relocated to Los Angeles and became one of metal's most distinctive voices.
The record features an impressive roster of guest contributors. TOOL drummer Danny Carey brings his polyrhythmic mastery to several tracks, while legendary bassist Tony Levin — known for his work with KING CRIMSON and Peter Gabriel — adds his unmistakable fretless bass tone. Ian Ross also contributes, expanding the sonic palette beyond what PUSCIFER have attempted before.
Core members Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell, and Carina Round remain the creative engine, with Round's ethereal vocals providing a haunting counterpoint to Keenan's characteristic delivery. The interplay between these three voices — sometimes layered, sometimes trading lines — gives "Normal Isn't" a textural richness that rewards repeated listening.
Tracks "Thrust," "Bad Wolf," "A Public Stoning," and "The Algorithm (Sessanta Live Mix)" showcase the band's most sonically diverse offering to date. Where previous PUSCIFER albums sometimes leaned toward electronic textures and desert-rock grooves, "Normal Isn't" strips things back to a more organic, guitar-forward approach that feels raw and immediate.
A companion film, "Normal Isn't: Live at the Pacific Stock Exchange," debuts February 9, continuing PUSCIFER's tradition of merging music with visual storytelling. Keenan has long viewed PUSCIFER as a multimedia project rather than a conventional band, and this latest visual component promises to deepen the album's thematic explorations.