puscifer Archives

Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan's long-running side project Puscifer has drafted some high-profile friends from the world of rock for Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired, a track-by-track remix of its 2020 album of the same name. The new version is out March 31 through Puscifer Entertainment/Alchemy Recordings/BMG, with Carina Round's remix of "A Singularity" out today (Jan. 11). https://www.youtube.com/watch?vORcrjdXD0Xk The song is a tribute to Keenan's dog MiHo, who died in 2021. "We thought we lost her in late 2019, so I panicked and wrote her this song," he says. "We were certain she was done for. But we were blessed with a second chance and a bit more time. I rarely share things like this. Too painful. But this one can’t be kept bottled up. As I have mentioned before, she has been hiding in most of my vocal tracks since 2005. She was either in or near the vocal booth every time I tracked. Her sigh, her bark, sniffle, sneeze. Her jingling collar. Her squeaky toys. Usually poorly timed." “Maynard’s vocal for this song is synonymously a sorrowful hymn and a siren of celebration," says Round, who was credited for the first time as a permanent member of Puscifer on the original Existential Reckoning. "I wanted the main vocal and the bass and drums to be anchors in a sea of jubilant chaos. A kind of controlled cacophony of celebratory joy. Familiar, but a bit unnerving. The horns and saxes at the end are all moving together but somehow so loose, dispersing off into foam and then coming back together into one harmonious wave and then breaking off again, cascading. I feel excited when it’s over and like I want to get back on the ride. Birds, a charm of finches bookend the song. You can feel their energy. And within, there’s Maynard’s lone whistle, mimicking them. The one who keeps them alive and in turn draws his own life force. The synergy of composure and chaos in a dance reverence.” Also featured on the upcoming album are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Phantogram, Bring Me the Horizon's Jordan Fish, Queens of the Stone Age's Troy Van Leeuwen and At the Drive-In/Sparta drummer Tony Hajjar, and Tool's Justin Chancellor with the Crystal Method's Scott Kirkland. Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired continues the band's penchant for remixing its catalog, an endeavor that dates back to its 2009 debut, "V" Is for Vagina. Puscifer has a handful of U.S. shows on tap this spring, including May 18 at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Fla., and May 27 at the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio, where Keenan will pull double-duty with Tool. From there, the group will embark on its first European tour in seven years, starting June 10 in Dublin. Here is the track list for Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired: "Bread and Circus" (Re-imagined by Mat Mitchell) "Apocalyptical" (Re-imagined by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross) "The Underwhelming" (Re-imagined by Juliette Commagere) "Grey Area" (Re-imagined by Troy Van Leeuwen & Tony Hajjar) "Theorem" (Re-imagined by Sarah Jones & Jordan Fish) "UPGrade" (Re-imagined by Justin Chancellor & Scott Kirkland) "Bullet Train to Iowa" (Re-imagined by Alessandro Cortini) "Personal Prometheus" (Re-imagined by Greg Edwards) "A Singularity" (Re-imagined by Carina Round) "Postulous" (Re-imagined by Phantogram) "Fake Affront" (Re-imagined by Gunnar Olsen) "Bedlamite" (Re-imagined by Daniel P. Carter) Here are Puscifer's tour dates: May 18: Daytona Beach, Fla. (Welcome to Rockville) May 23: Asheville, N.C. (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium) May 27: Columbus, Oh. (Sonic Temple) May 28: Northfield, Oh. (Northfield Park) May 30: Rochester, N.Y. (Kodak Center) June 1: Baltimore (the Lyric) June 2: Atlantic City, N.J. (Hard Rock Casino) June 3: Bethlehem, Pa. (Wind Creek Event Center) June 10: Dublin (Olympia Theatre) June 12: Glasgow (O2 Academy) June 13: Manchester, England (Academy) June 15: London (TBA) June 17: Clisson, France (Hellfest) June 20: Copenhagen (Vega) June 21: Stockholm (Fryshuset) June 26: Hamburg, Germany (Docks) June 27-28: Berlin (Huxley's) June 30: Belfort, France (Eurockeennes Festival) July 1: Tilburg, Netherlands (Poppodium Tilburg) July 2: Werchter, Belgium (Rock Werchter) July 4: Barcelona (Razzmatazz) July 6: Lisbon (NOS Alive) July 7: Madrid (Mad Cool Festival)

puscifer

IMPACT

more from spin

Get New Music, News, Reviews, And More Delivered Right To Your Inbox.