Love 'em or hate 'em, Mudvayne is one of mainstream metal's more interesting outfits.
Yes, the group has evolved into a more radio-friendly unit since its fierce 2000 debut "L.D. 50," but anyone listening to deeper cuts within the band's vast back catalog knows there's a whole lotta brain-hemorrhaging thrash to unearth.
Fans of the band have received not one but two albums within the span of just over a year, thanks to the release of 2008's concept-laden "The New Game" and now the unleashing of "Mudvayne," the band's self-titled fifth full-length slab of tangled angst and unbridled rage.
You have to hand it to ornery singer Chad Gray. He has one of the most cagey, distinctive voices in metal and he continues to chastise it in ways that would cripple most other mortal vocalists. He can go from seething whisper to gravelly monotone to unhinged, tortured scream all at once.
Add in crisp and nimble bass work from rail-thin Ryan Martinie, clinical drum patterns and complicated time shifts from skins lab technician Matt McDonough, and snarling extraterrestrial guitar work from burley Greg Tribbett, and you have a formula that more than gets the job done musically, but Mudvayne works hard to get fans to think outside the box.
Nowhere is this more apparent than on "Mudvayne," which is a pretty serious return to form for a band that has struggled with its share of fairweather fans.
Like an unstable mental patient about to become scarily unglued, "Mudvayne" heralds its individuality right from the start in the blast beats and panicky fits and starts of "Beautiful and Strange" and the straightforward, sturdy jackhammer of "1000 Mile Journey."
Lead single "Scream with Me" disappoints and is the weakest song to be found here, and "Closer" comes off like a reject from Metallica's "St. Anger" sessions.
But the album adds intrigue in its midsection. "Heard It All Before" is big-band swing as heard in hell, boasting juicy pick squawks and squeals, and "I Can't Wait" features furious double bass thumping from McDonough.
"All Talk" is likely too tame for even the uninitiated, but the trippy "Out to Pasture" and broiling "Burn the Bridge" pour gobs of grit and grime into the grind.
"Dead Inside" provides the album's melancholy coda, and while it overall closes things out in a quieter, meditative manner, it is by no means a felony or misdemeanor on Mudvayne's rap sheet.
To diehards: It's still not "L.D. 50." Let it go. Those days are long over and Gray, McDonough, Martinie and Tribbett have no intention of going back. But "Mudvayne" is easily the best album this fiery quartet has produced since "The End of All Things to Come."
Also of note is the album's packaging, always inventive when it comes to Mudvayne. The disc case is printed in black light-reactive ink. Under the mini lamp included with the album, the cover and booklet images reveal art by Paul Booth.
The deluxe version, by the way, includes an LED black light and tosses the album into a custom box.
Recommended.
The ABC12 Listening Room staff: James Chesna, editor-in-chief; Josh Daunt, managing editor, photographer; LeeAlan Weddel, contributing editor, staff writer, photographer; Beth McEnroe, staff writer, photographer; Gwen Mikolajczak, staff writer; Chris Harris, photographer, staff writer; Eric Fletcher, chief photographer; Randy Cox, photographer; Chris Carr, photographer; Jessica Reid, contributing photographer; Bill Harris, contributing photographer; Shawn Light, contributing writer; Robin Chan, contributing writer.
