by Chris Fox
MUDVAYNE returns to their manic musings with shadows of their past sound. The truly heavy sound of “Dig” and “Prod” has resurfaced in their newest album. Rediscovering their scattered and abrasive sound MUDVAYNE has created an album that delves into the disturbing tonality of their past with subtle examples of their seasoned musical status. This album is full of songs that lull you into a false sense of security with ambient rumbles and calming melodies before they hit you with a wall of sound that is undeniable. After previous albums, where they thrived on the lighter side of their sound, this album finds itself rivaling “L.D. 50,” and a new understanding of what it means to be angry. A reintroduction to the talents of their rythym section has made this album a culmination of everything that is MUDVAYNE up to this point. Self-titling the album has created a new chapter in this bands life in heavy music. The guttural vocals and eerie bass lines have reestablished what MUDVAYNE is and what they are capable of.
The consistent mentality of MUDVAYNE is to challenge everything with their music. Pushing the envelope and developing themselves and their music. Their philosophy is “living to challenge people… break up the norm of what metal is supposed to be,” says Gray. Taking their music as an artist approaches a canvas they “don’t want to use the same colors every time,” and allowing fans to delve into the music so they “become a part of what we are.” The attitude that keeps people guessing not only keeps fans at attention, but it keeps the band together. By challenging those around them, MUDVAYNE has matured as a group and helped them learn to know each other better. “We allow the song to dictate what it wants to do,” explains Gray, “we’ve learned to know what to expect from each other, but it is still unpredictable.” Gray sites the major change in their music is that it has become less “angry” and developed a “frustration.” Through this frustration the continuity of the songs comes over time. They have learned to embrace the epicness of the music and thrive on the song writing.
Drawing on vast musical influences from the metal genre standards like Sabbath and Zeppelin, Gray credits their ability to observe influences in a weird way as one of the band’s biggest inspirations. Gray also cites movies as a big influence and describes the array of characters he imagines through his music. It is because of these influences and inspirations that the best term to describe the MUDVAYNE sound is “manic.” They are not trying to be anything but what they are, from cover to cover, and the mania only ensues from that.
MUDVAYNE pride themselves on their live performance. Though Gray admits to loving the studio atmosphere and writing behind walls, the band’s true power is in their stage performance. Each character in the group brings their own brand of madness to the stage. This only contributes to the manic understanding of their metal sound. Gray says the most rewarding thing as a musician is “playing for people, playing live, when you are really there feeling it.”
The band continues to dish out their own brand of heavy metal and after fourteen years, they are still helping to shape their beloved genre. Manic and firing crazy on all cylinders, MUDVAYNE will keep you guessing and show you exactly what it means to love what you do. While constantly stirring the metaphoric melting pot that is heavy metal, this quartet continues to find new approaches to their sound.
