Existential Reckoning

Existential Reckoning
Studio album by Puscifer
Released	October 30, 2020
Recorded	2020
Studio	Puscifer Studios, North Hollywood, CA and The Bunker, Jerome, AZ
Genre	Industrial rock alternative rock electronic [1]
Length	60:01
Label	Alchemy BMG
Producer	Mat Mitchell, Puscifer
Puscifer chronology
Money Shot Your Re-Load (2016) Existential Reckoning (2020) Existential Reckoning: Rewired (2022)

Existential Reckoning is the fourth studio album by Puscifer. The album was released on October 30, 2020, by Alchemy Recordings and BMG Rights Management. ^{[2] [3]}

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100 [4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Consequence of Sound	B+ [6]
Kerrang!	4/5 [7]

Existential Reckoning received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 80, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 7 reviews. ^[4]

Accolades

Publications' year-end list appearances for Existential Reckoning

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Consequence of Sound	Top 30 Metal/Hard Rock Albums of 2020	27	[8]
Revolver	Top 25 Albums of 2020	19	[9]

Commercial performance

Existential Reckoning debuted at number 7 on the US Billboard Top Alternative Albums chart with over 11,000 album-equivalent units, of which 9000 units were pure sales. ^[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Puscifer.

Existential Reckoning track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bread and Circus"	6:28
2.	"Apocalyptical"	5:22
3.	"The Underwhelming"	5:04
4.	"Grey Area"	3:58
5.	"Theorem"	5:04
6.	"UPGrade"	4:53
7.	"Bullet Train to Iowa"	5:05
8.	"Personal Prometheus"	7:25
9.	"A Singularity"	5:30
10.	"Postulous"	3:41
11.	"Fake Affront"	3:28
12.	"Bedlamite"	4:50
Total length:		60:01

Personnel

Puscifer

• Maynard James Keenan – vocals
• Mat Mitchell – Fairlight (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9–12), Voyager (1, 8), Juno-60 (1), bass guitar (1, 3, 7, 12), programming (1), 2600 (2, 8–10), synthesizers (3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12), Steinberger (3, 5–8, 11, 12), Quantum (4), Synclavier (5, 10), MS-20 (8), S900 (9), Chapman Stick (11)
• Carina Round – vocals, Fairlight (4, 5, 9, 10), Akai S612 (5, 10)

Additional musicians

• Greg Edwards – bass guitar (1, 3–6, 8–12), guitar (1, 2, 7, 8), Deckard's Dream (3, 5), violin (6), sitar (7), synthesizers (9, 11, 12), Synclavier (10)
• Sarah Jones – drums (2–7, 9–12)
• Gunnar Olsen – drums (7, 8)

Technical personnel

• Mat Mitchell – producer, engineer, mixing
• Puscifer – producer
• Carina Round – additional engineering
• Greg Edwards – additional engineering

Charts

Chart performance for Existential Reckoning

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [11]	92
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [12]	57
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [13]	45
US Billboard 200 [14]	65
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [15]	13
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [16]	12
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [17]	7

References

1. "Existential Reckoning - Puscifer | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
2. Kaufman, Spencer (September 18, 2020). "Puscifer Announce Existential Reckoning LP, Unveil "The Underwhelming": Stream". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved November 22, 2020.
3. "Existential Reckoning by Puscifer on Apple Music". Music.apple.com. October 30, 2020. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
4. "Existential Reckoning by Puscifer Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
5. Neil Z. Yeung. "Existential Reckoning - Puscifer". AllMusic . Retrieved November 22, 2020.
6. Prato, Greg (October 30, 2020). "Puscifer Ride the New Wave on Existential Reckoning". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
7. "Album Review: Puscifer – Existential Reckoning". Kerrang! . October 29, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
8. "Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020". Consequence of Sound . December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
9. Madden, Emma (November 25, 2020). "25 Best Albums of 2020". Revolver . Retrieved December 16, 2020.
10. Rutherford, Kevin (November 12, 2020). "Puscifer Returns to Alternative Albums Top 10 With 'Existential Reckoning'". Billboard . Retrieved December 16, 2020.
11. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 9 November 2020". The ARIA Report. No. 1601. Australian Recording Industry Association. November 9, 2020. p. 6.
12. "Swisscharts.com – Puscifer – Existential Reckoning". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
13. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
14. "Puscifer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
15. "Puscifer Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
16. "Puscifer Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
17. "Puscifer Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.