Band: Mudvayne
Album: The End of All Things to Come
Label: Epic Records
Released: November 19, 2002
Band Members:
Chad Gray (
Chüd) - Vocals
Greg Tribbett (
Güüg) - Guitar
Ryan Martinie (
R-üD) - Bass
Matt McDonough (
Spüg) - Drums
NOTE: This is my first CD review so I'm still a little unsure of what this CD's genre would be classified as.
Summary:
Mudvayne's third album is official follow-up to
L.D. 50.
The Beginning of All Things to End was simply a reissue of their 1997 album
Kill I Oughtta and not the follow-up to
L.D. 50.
The End of All Things to Come consists of 13 original songs, each having their own unique sound. The album has plenty of songs to scream with, but it also has a fair share of metal songs powered by Chüd's clean and vibrant singing (World So Cold and (Per)version of a Truth to name a few). Like
L.D. 50,
The Beginning of All Things to End opens up a new door for
Mudvayne fans to enter. Once entered, it launches them into a world of powerful vocals and superb instrumentals backed up by one of the coolest looking cover arts I have ever seen.
The Music:
1. Silenced (3:01) - The CDs opening track is a song that, I believe, is about the "Parental Advisory" stickers placed on the cover of albums containing excessive swearing. Silenced is powered by Chüd's raspy screaming and guitar riffs that sound great.
2. Trapped in the Wake of a Dream (4:43) - Creative lyrics and some nice footwork by Spüg push this song along quite well. This song isn't one of my favorites, however. I just seem to kind of stare into space when I hear this song. This is a song that I can actually hear the pumping bass in, despite my lack of a bass ear. I'll give this song extra points because it begins and ends in the same fashion.
3. Not Falling (4:03) - The first single off of
The End of All Things to Come is an excellent metal song. The intro sports a catchy guitar riff and and some great drumming from
Spüg. I love the chorus in this song along with everything else in this song. All members of
Mudvayne really shine in this song, pulling together to create a hit single worty of being the theme song for a movie better than "Ghost Ship" (horrible).
4. (Per)version of a Truth (4:41) - Another song that Chüd's amazing vocals stand out above anything else in the song. A mesmerizing chorus and song structure give this song a kind of clean feel that seems strange because of the loud instrumentals that pummel your brain. This song also has an excellent ending to an excellent song.
5. Mercy Severity (4:54) - One of my favorite songs on this album. The song starts off heavy with the guitar loud and constant. It is then accompanied by the blasting 16th note double bass hits that I've come to love from Spüg's drumming. The guitar gets quiet during the verse then blares during the chorus, dishing out some major power. About halfway through the song, the vocals stop and Spüg and Güüg go all out with a heavy metal riff that just screams metal. This song also contains my favorite line in the entire album, "I feel like this gravity is just here to pull us down!" Awesome song.
6. World So Cold (5:39) - This song is my favorite song on the album as well as the album's second single. The song starts and finishes with some of the best vocals Chüd has ever done. The guitar and bass just add to the mood of the song, making it more and more of an epic. World So Cold also contains some of the best drumming that I've heard from Spüg. This song is A-class material.
7. The Patient Mental (4:38) - A strange song that starts fast and manages to stay that way throughout. This song contains alot of screaming from Chüd making you feel like you're actually hearing from a mental patient (as Chüd screams "Why won't they leave me... leave me alone?!"). The bass, however, really stands out in this song a little ways after the halfway point of this song. About that time the song drops tempo and gets softer, leading you to believe it will stay this way for the remainder of the song. Instead it reverts back to the heavy metal and screaming. Chüd keeps the clean singing going along with his yells. Another great ending, though.
8. Skyring (5:38) - This song is a good song to listen to, but not to make sense out of (I know that sounds kind of wierd). Some things I love about this song are distorted guitar in this song and the occasional "woo'ing" sound heard in between Chud's angry singing. About midway through the song, the entire song drops to nothing. No sound is heard until Chüd comes in softly with the guitar just as soft, gradually building up to angry howling. Near the end, the band uses instrumentals only to fade out with, dropping down to a very low sound level. This leads to a "fade-in" that fools the listener into thinking that they were done.... but they weren't!
9. Solve et Coagula (2:49) - A song that seems to contain a little too much random screaming and yelling and not outstanding guitar, bass, or drum playing. I'm glad that this song isn't as long as the other ones. Props to Chüd for being able to make it through the song with all the screaming. Not a bad song, but not a great one.
10. Shadow of a Man (3:55) - A few references to "Snow White" make this song a very strange one. I love the chorus in this song. The tempo speeds up and the entire band seems to perform better as opposed to how they did during the verse. 2/3's through the song a catchy bit of bridge takes over making you want to tap your foot to the beat. I love how Chüd manages to get out the words "Mirror! Upon the Wall!" in a screaming voice. Those words totally screw up what you remember about "Snow White".
11. 12:97:24:99 (0:11) - Eleven seconds of silence is what you get for this song. It may have some sort of meaning that I'm not aware of so I never even thought about rating this song.
12. The End of All Things to Come (3:00) - Some impressive drumming from Spüg and a song that lets R-üD truly shine with his innovative and punching bass playing. The songs mood seems set on mass killings with the line "I need a barrel of cyanide, a pile of strychnine until the whole **** world is dead, start over again." That line sticks out most in my mind as a pretty straight forward line of "Kill everyone.", which fits the title of the song. An overall good song with a nice bit of loud playing, then silence, then loud playing again, then silence and so on.
13. A Key To Nothing (5:07) - Some distorted guitar and drilling drum playing begin this song with Chüd constantly singing "No more.... No more....". A nice guitar riff isn't enough to save the droning sound of the chorus from Chüd. I just get kind of bored listening to the chorus. However, halfway through the song the line "I'm washing my hands (on the whole thing)." is sung beautifully and brings the song (and album) to it's end where the same thing is played over and over by the band minus vocals. After a few seconds the album seems to end like a dying battery, dropping tempo and becoming distorted until silence is all that's left.
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The End of All Things to Come has an overall good sound and excellent instrumentals. I wouldn't skip a single song in this album because I didn't like it, but I would skip a song in order to get to a better one.
Out of 10?
9/10
