Nate Scholz breaks the mold for the misunderstood with “Hallucinations”

 

With Hallucinations, Nate Scholz rips the lid off post-lockdown repression and lets the raw, unfiltered noise of nonconformity scream through. The Richmond, VA-based artist makes a thunderous return to form with a rock track that’s as emotionally charged as it is sonically explosive. More than just a comeback, this statement is bold, volatile, and defiant.

Recorded at Go West Recording in Richmond, Hallucinations is the first song Nate and his bandmates wrote together after the pandemic lockdowns, and you can feel the pent-up urgency in every beat. The song doesn’t tiptoe into your headphones; it kicks down the door. There’s an electric sense of release from the opening riff, like a pressure valve finally hissing open after years of emotional containment.

Scholz uses Hallucinations to explore the isolating experience of being labeled “crazy” for simply refusing to conform. It’s a song for the misfits, the over-thinkers, the emotionally honest, and the ones society often tries to stuff into smaller, quieter boxes. “They call it madness / I call it truth,” Scholz growls in the chorus, his voice teetering between restraint and riot.

The arrangement has a jagged beauty, a grunge-meets-alt-rock explosion that calls to mind early Muse, mid-career Queens of the Stone Age, and even flashes of Radiohead at their most unhinged. Thick guitar layers build like rising static while the rhythm section pounds with manic intensity, pulling you deeper into Scholz’s storm of perception and defiance.

But the most compelling part of Hallucinations is how vulnerable they allow themselves to be beneath the distortion. Scholz doesn’t just rail against judgment; he exposes its pain. This isn’t performative rebellion; it’s catharsis. It’s the sound of someone who’s learned how to weaponize their sensitivity in a world that mistakes silence for sanity.

At just over three minutes, Hallucinations doesn’t overstay its welcome. It burns brightly, crashes hard, and leaves a lasting scorch mark. Nate Scholz has just delivered your new battle cry for fans of emotionally intelligent rock that doesn’t flinch in discomfort.

CLICK HERE TO STREAM | Nate Scholz's "Hallucinations" on Spotify.

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