''Savior Sorrow'' (also recognized as SaVIor Sorrow during the album's development stages) is the fifth studio album by American
heavy metal band
Mushroomhead
Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as ...
. It is their first release through
Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (w ...
. This is the first Mushroomhead recording to not feature original vocalist
Jason "J Mann" Popson and guitarist Bronson, who left the band in 2004 and 2005 respectively. The former is replaced by
Waylon Reavis
Waylon Reavis (born September 19, 1978) is an American musician best known for being a former vocalist for American heavy metal band Mushroomhead. He was in Mushroomhead from 2004-2015 and with them released three albums: Savior Sorrow (2006) ...
.
Originally set to be released on June 6, 2006, it was pushed back for unknown reasons (but is speculated due to attempting to acquire the rights to
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
's song, "When Doves Cry" so they could place a cover on the album) and MushroomKombat was launched instead. The album was released on September 19, 2006, in the United States, while overseas versions were released in mid-October 2006.
Album information
Bronson left the band in 2005, a year before the album was released, to return to film school. Although the majority of the guitar parts for the album were created by Gravy, Bronson did in fact write the majority of "Cut Me" and "The Need". Rather than recruiting another guitarist, the band decided to let Gravy tackle all the guitar parts in the album. Gravy had said, "it worked out really well, because Bronson wasn't a natural
uitarplayer. Now that he's gone, I don't have to worry anymore that my riffs will be too difficult for him to play." Since then, Mushroomhead continues with only one guitarist.
The album was released on Waylon Reavis' birthday, which is also the anniversary of the day he was asked to join the band.
A demo version of the song "Burn" was included on a
FYE sampler, which was given away in June exclusively with the purchase of two qualifying CDs at FYE stores. It was limited to 25,000 copies and was done in conjunction with
Decibel magazine
''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currentl ...
.
Drummer
Steve Felton
Steve "Skinny" Felton is an American musician, most notable for being the co-founder, leader, and drummer of metal band Mushroomhead. He was also the drummer of the bands Hatrix, (216), Tenafly Viper and Scelestus. His other projects includ ...
(Skinny) says: "It's a new chapter in MUSHROOMHEAD's evolution. There are sounds on this album that sound so brutal and huge. We focused on delivering some vicious hardcore mixed with heavy melodic hooks. Lyrically, it definitely reflects where the world is at this moment in time."
The album's first single, "Simple Survival" debuted on Cleveland's
WMMS
WMMS (100.7 FM) – branded ''100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard'' – is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock st ...
on August 11, 2006. The band began a world tour on September 12, 2006, alongside
SOiL
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
,
Brand New Sin, and
The Autumn Offering
The Autumn Offering was an American metalcore band that formed in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1999. After achieving some degree of local success, the band was signed to Stillborn Records, founded by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, in 2003. The band re ...
as part of the
Jägermeister Music Tour
The Jägermeister Music Tour is a hard rock, hardcore punk, and heavy metal music tour that has been held twice a year in the United States since 2002. It is owned by the American importer of Jägermeister, Sidney Frank Importing.
History
First ...
. It was featured in the 2007 film ''
Return to House on Haunted Hill
''Return to House on Haunted Hill'' is a 2007 American horror film and the sequel to the 1999 film ''House on Haunted Hill''. Directed by Víctor Garcia and written by William Massa, the film stars Amanda Righetti, Tom Riley, Cerina Vincent and ...
''.
Videos for "Simple Survival", "Burn", "Damage Done", "12 Hundred", "Save Us" and "Embrace the Ending" have been filmed.
"Damage Done" was filmed by
Robert Kurtzman
Robert Kurtzman (born November 25, 1964) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and special effects makeup artist.
Career
Kurtzman began his career in 1984 when he moved from his hometown of Crestline, Ohio, to Hollywood, Cali ...
's crew after the filming of scenes in the upcoming horror movie ''
The Rage'', which features a Mushroomhead performance.
Waylon brings diversity and multiple dimensions to the band. He's a screamer and a singer who molds his voice to what the songs demand. Drummer and producer Skinny, comments: “
Waylon is versatile. He is a chameleon who changes his voice at breakneck speed. It’s truly remarkable.”
With this album, the band continues to explore the musical depths by remaining different and forward-thinking as ever.
Music videos
Drummer
Skinny explained about the "12 Hundred" video: "It's very, very horror movie-esque — really gory and bloody and pretty evil." It was filmed by video director, maskmaker and make-up artist Dave Henson Greathouse on the set of the film ''
The Rage''. The video won "2007 Video of the Year."
The music video of "Simple Survival" was directed by Chad Kalek and features Tom Shaffner, who became their current guitarist in 2018.
John Carpet directed the music video of "Burn". Carpet is also known to have directed some of
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
's films, even though he is not included in the credits. There was a lesser known music video for "Damage Done" released that featured the band playing in front of a crowd and surrounded by fire performers in the woods.
Other music videos were made for Damage Done, Save Us, Erase the Doubt and Embrace the Ending.
Etymology
Jeffrey Nothing has stated in an interview with Mortley Seaver on antiMUSIC.com that Savior Sorrow is saying "'Save Your Sorrow.' Or with everything that's happened to us in the past, we're probably stronger than ever, so it's pretty much saying 'Fuck your pity' in a way."
Other name considerations were "Savior Self" and "The Six Seas of Sorrow".
Release and reception
The album was released with seven different album slip covers featuring one member each.
The September 19 release featured two bonus tracks exclusive to
Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
copies of the album. The first bonus was an alternate version of "The Fallen" and the second bonus was additional music from "Embrace the Ending." The 7 different album covers were also exclusive to Best Buy, but in "Limited Edition." While the
Circuit City
Circuit City is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After m ...
CD sale came with a Savior Sorrow ringtone.
500,000 copies of the album have a special "3-D" cover, available everywhere.
Savior Sorrow debuted at No. 73 on the
''Billboard'' 200 charts with sales exceeding 12,000. However, the band's label stated that sales were closer to 25,000 with the inclusion of sales made while on tour.
SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
issued an apology the day following the release of sales data due to mistakes made in estimates. The primary reason given was the lack of inclusion of sales from the
Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
retailer chain. Sales of Savior Sorrow were indeed around 26,000 and the chart entry place was closer to the No. 30 spot than No. 73. However, Savior Sorrow's chart position was later officially adjusted to No. 50. Simple Survival, the pre-released single to Savior Sorrow, was placed at No. 40 on the
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
chart one week after the release.
"Savior Sorrow" has been released on double vinyl.
As of September 2007, ''Savior Sorrow'' had sold over 76,000 copies in the US.
As of May, 2009, ''Savior Sorrow'' has sold close to 125,000 copies worldwide.
Track listing
# "12 Hundred" - 3:21
# "Simple Survival" - 3:15
# "Damage Done" - 3:40
# "Save Us" - 3:46
# "Tattoo" - 4:07 (featuring Sean Kane of
Gizmachi
Gizmachi is an American heavy metal band from Newburgh, New York, formed in 1998. They are signed to Big Orange Clown Records a subsidiary of Sanctuary Records owned by Shawn "Clown" Crahan. Gizmachi was one of the bands on the second stage ...
)
# "Erase the Doubt" - 4:16
# "Burn" - 2:53
# "Just Pretending" - 4:12
# "The Need" - 4:56
# "Cut Me" - 5:24
# "The Fallen" - 4:22
# "Embrace the Ending" - 4:53
Bonus tracks
* "Burn" (Original Recording) - 3:03 (FYE editions)
* "Whole World Calling" (Embrace The Ending demo version) - 2:07 (Best Buy editions)
* "The Fallen" (demo version) - 4:26 (Best Buy editions)
Charting positions
Album
Singles
Album credits
Mushroomhead
*
Jeffrey Nothing - vocals
*
Waylon - vocals
*
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of salt an ...
- guitars
*
Pig Benis
Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as ...
- bass
*Shmotz - keyboards, samples
*
Skinny - drums, percussion
*ST1TCH - samples, electronics
Other personnel
*Skinny - artwork, production
*Jeffrey Nothing - lyrics
*Waylon - lyrics
*ST1TCH - artwork
*Bill Korecky - mixing
*Brian Serra - artwork
*Harold Mapes - digital editing
*James Serra - artwork
*Mushroomhead - engineer, mixing, producer
*Pat Lewis - engineer
*Roger Lian - mastering
*Sean Kane - guest vocals ("Tattoo")
References
External links
Mushroomhead music video made in MansfieldRoadrunnerrecords.comMetalundergound.comMortley Interview with Jeffrey NothingLyrics
{{Authority control
2006 albums
Mushroomhead albums
Megaforce Records albums