Mudvayne
MUDVAYNE
Epic Records

OK, am I just getting old or is all this shit just starting to sound alike? Enter Mudvayne and their newest self titled release “Mudvayne” (their fifth), another seemingly faceless foray into a world inundated with act after act after act of ultra-violent, unoriginal banal noise.

When does it end? When does the one-ups-manship of angry-evil vocal boys tire? Chuck Schuldiner vocalized on “Scream Bloody Gore” in 1987 like Linda Blair for shock and impact and it was original; but over the past few decades that shock and impact has become commonplace and the impersonators and sound a-likes if lined up would stretch from California to Caledonia. I don’t know how much more evil or sinister the music has to become before it goes the way of disco, eighties hair metal or the 70’s soft rock beard.

Metal must reinvent itself, and soon!!

For re-inventions sake the Brits are usually the Mariano Rivera of trend destruction flaming out any pretenders usually by showing us yanks how it’s done on a cyclical decade to decade time line. Hell, they invented metal via Sabbath and Priest in the early 70’s, gave us Iron Maiden in the early 80’s but even Britannia has been quiet the past several years shaking my trust and passion in all that I love and hold dear about metal to the foundations. (Give Savage Messiah some time to gel)

Musically there is nothing memorable from this lot; most tracks go the way of poly-rhythmic overkill. However, what I do find interesting here is their use of the “semi-sung” vocal tone. It has become all the rage in aggressive modern metal to show that you have some inkling of culture by “singing” a line or two between all the non-sensical screaming and growling. In between the hackneyed screaming of vocalist Chad Gray is the usage of a unique singing voice that if used (obviously more than less) would make this a more memorable experience. Acts like Amorphis, Paradise Lost and many others enjoyed their infancy in the world of unintelligible garbled crap and aspired to become purveyors of originality in a medium that so desperately needs it simply by switching vocal tones. On tracks like “Closer”, “All Talk” and “Beyond the Pale” vocalist Gray combines a hybrid vocal style of Robin Zander and Chuck Billy that welcomes the listener’s entry, but the angry screaming soon returns rendering any interest I had and losing me in a droning vacuum of modern metal mediocrity.

From a musicianship aspect this band is tight; you will probably not find a tighter more rehearsed band than Mudvayne. Obviously, the years spent touring have done little to wear this band down as the time changes, speed and agility displayed throughout this release are second to none. But, for my tastes they need to slow down a click and find an emotion besides anger to get their point across. Which brings me back to this, the similarity that Mudvayne shares with the other also-rans of the day; there is just nothing special about this release yet somehow you know that the potential is there. It seems that anger in Metal has become the inherent prevailing wind of business spoiling a band like Mudvayne’s potential. It is so obvious that this band is capable of much more but get lost in the irritated soup du jour of sonic conformity.  

Pitriff Rating – 5/10 – Just a word of advice boys; leave the anger behind and you will become a force to be reckoned with across all genres. Even though the gold records are there and along with Korn have become synonymous as one of the faces of Nu-Metal, it’s sad to see the affects that this culture has had on a talented band like Mudvayne. The ability is there the songwriting is there they just filter everything through a single emotion and the result is flat, aggravated and ultimately un-original. I only wish great things for this band but because of our disposable society and the widespread “Get it Quick” mentality that exists in the here and now, I can’t see anymore for Mudvayne than unfortunately becoming a casualty of it all, maybe next time boys.  

John Mahoney