Mudvayne
Mudvayne

Release Date: 2009 | Tracklist

After the horrifying album that was The New Game, many people were just about ready to give up on Mudvayne, to close the door on a band that was once such a unique force in modern metal that had fallen into complete and utter mediocrity. I, for one, was very scared for the future of this band after hearing the material that was on The New Game. It was just surreal to me, how a band that presented so much creative force on its first 2 albums could fall so low into despair and create cheesy radio metal with horrible lyrics. Not to mention Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett made fools of themselves by joining the horrible supergroup HellYeah. Nevertheless, Mudvayne announced that they were to release a self-titled album in December as a follow up to The New Game. Even though my hopes were pretty low, I decided to check it out anyway. As it turns out, this album is better than anything they’ve released in years.

It all starts and ends with sampled noise. ‘Beautiful and Strange’ takes its time to build up and explode with its power, as do many songs on this album. The fast guitars kick in with frenzied drumming work, and Chad introduces himself for the first time with his standard raspy vocals. The song isn’t bad at all, and it makes a good start to the album, but some might be alarmed by the fact that Ryan Martinie’s bass lines aren’t fully audible in the track (although this is only one of the few songs on here where they aren’t). The solo in the song also works well. ‘1000 Mile Journey’ is next, and this is where the album should really grip the listener. The song is over 6 minutes in length and is one of the best on the album. It shows that the band can unleash pure insanity in the verses and give a great chorus that doesn’t bring the song down, something that they haven’t been very good at in a long time. The bridge is also very melodic and does the song great justice. Ryan and Greg make a great guitar and bass combination and it shows here. The ending features a brief instrumental piece that turns out being quite nice and ambient, and then ‘Scream With Me’ comes in. Arguably the worst song on the album, it has some of the absolute worst lyrics Chad Gray has ever written and a predicable song structure. The song is cliché just like ‘Do What You Do’ and ‘Happy?’ were and it was obviously made for the radio, but the catchiness of the track might be enough to win some people over. ‘I Can’t Wait’ is full of rage, with Chad screaming his lungs out like he did on ‘Under My Skin’ on LD 50. ‘Heard It All Before’ contains one of the creepiest and most haunting lead riffs Greg Tribbett has ever written and it carries the song into its crushing heavy section.

In comparison to the last 2 albums, the entire band have stepped up their game on this album. Believe it, they haven’t sounded this good since the days of LD 50. Even though some people might be disappointed with Chad’s vocals and lyrics still, he does exceptionally well when compared to his previous vocal performance. His screams are still as strong as ever, and his lyrics have somewhat improved, even if they are still a bit generic. He shines the most on the album closer, ‘Dead Inside’. An entirely acoustic song, it works better than any other “slow” song Mudvayne have written to date, and it proves to be a great way to end the album. Greg Tribbett seems to get better and better with every Mudvayne release, as does Ryan Martinie. The guitar riffs on this album are in true Mudvayne fashion, going from heavy power chords to ambient clean riffs and tasteful solos as well as haunting and creepy leads. The bass lines are funky, jazz-influenced, and dominating, proving once more that Ryan is one of the greatest bassists in modern metal today. 'Beyond the Pale' and 'Out to Pasture' both feature intros that are dominated by the chemistry between both players, and it shows as they sync together perfectly to set a dark vibe for the respective songs. Matthew McDonough presents his greatest drum performance since LD 50 on this album, creating fills and beats that bring each track to great heights. The man really knows what he is doing behind the kit, and he doesn’t waste any time in showing the listener what he can do.

In the end, there are so many positives about this album that the very few negatives aren’t enough to make it a boring listen. Even with a horrible first single and a few wrongs that Mudvayne still need to correct in the future, this album is better than anything the band have released in a very long time. This self-titled album is one of the most surprising metal releases of the year, and it proves that Mudvayne are still here and are still capable of making great music. The artwork is also unique and quite a surprise itself. They aren’t down for the count just yet, and one can only hope that they will continue along this path in the near future.

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3.1 good

Rank: #0 for 2009