Nesdam’s whole life has led into his debut album Find The Truth. The moment listeners hear it, they’ll know: he’s not holding anything back.
The hard rock musician, whose given name is Patrick Madsen, has historically been best known as a drummer (notably in Random Hero). But over the past four years, he has found a new voice as a frontman.
“I think all of my past experience was training to write a record like this,” Nesdam reflects. “It's not a simple record by any means. It's very challenging vocally, drums-wise and guitar-wise. And this one's just kind of the appetizer for things to come. I know that with each album, things are going to get even better.”
The first taste comes with his single “The Hill,” out everywhere September 4. In addition to introducing Nesdam’s exhilarating, unapologetically heavy sound, the lyrics offer equally unflinching self-reflection.
Nesdam says, “‘The Hill’ speaks to battling yourself, battling turmoil, and finding out it could be yourself that you're battling the whole time. Instead of blaming others, it's more about self-reflection — the pain, the triumph, the process.”
And this is an artist who has felt his fair share of pain and triumph. The four years during which Nesdam has been carving out his own musical territory have been about more than just discovering his own fresh rock sound: they have been years of survival.
Nesdam has walked with his wife and fellow artist, Zahna, through life-threatening health challenges. The singer himself suddenly lost his father. Caught in the chaos between death and life, his unwavering commitment to helping others find and stand in truth has only been forged into something stronger.
“Everyone struggles with finding the truth of life,” the artist offers. “People go through struggles in faith, struggles in relationships, struggles with all the things in life that don’t turn out. I think it drives everyone crazy. This is why we have immense amounts of war. It's all because we've tried to find the truth.”
That steely determination to be part of helping others find the truth is present throughout each track on the album, the songs building from “The Hill.” “One Block Away” poignantly reflects on losing someone you look up to. Zooming out to a global scale, “Manipulator” directly calls out evil in the world, while “Plastic Crown” critiques political structures.
Find The Truth will be one of the first albums to release under the label XOVR records, an imprint founded by Brian “Head” Welch of Korn. It’s a partnership that makes perfect sense with Nesdam’s nu-metal flavored sound, and it also feels like something of a full-circle dream come true for the artist.
“It feels like a dream come true, and then it feels like, ‘Alright, now you're here, don't mess up!’” the artist laughs.
With each song on Find The Truth, that intention is clear. Nesdam is a man on a mission. Though he’s been making music under other band names for well over a decade now, this new album is out to set the record straight: he’s still only getting started.
“There's good and bad in life. You have to take all of it and apply it to whatever your mission and your calling are,” Nesdam frankly concludes.
“The Hill” is available everywhere now. For more about Nesdam, find him on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.