Mudvayne-- Mudvayne (2009)

Review written by Steven M Duarte

Mudvayne graces us with another album after releasing “The New Game,” in November of 08. Word is they created the tracks for this album alongside The New Game recording session. While the songs may have been recorded during the same session, “Mudvayne,” is definitely a darker heavier album. While many of the tracks contained on “The New Game are more upbeat, “Mudvayne contains dark eerie intros that play into heavy down tuned riffs.

The first song “Beautiful and Strange,” is an example of the darker sound. The song starts off with very industrial sounding effects that would make even David Lynch envious. The rest of the song is pure mudvayne with lead singer Chad Grays signature growl. One thing that flows throughout this album are catchy hooks which are found in almost every song. Other standouts on the album include “Scream with Me,” and the industrial sounding “Closer,” which is reminiscent of a Rammstein song. When we get to the middle of the album, we are treated to yet another haunting music score which acts as the intro to “Heard it All Before.” I’m not sure if Mudvayne included these intros for the sole purpose of making the album darker or if they had alternative motives for it. Either way I enjoy horror scores and dark sounding music so I found it as a welcome addition.

We get to hear a little bit of bass work from bassist Ryan Martinie on “Beyond the Pale,” which is always a welcome addition in my book. The last song on the album “Dead Inside,” is much more country sounding ballad reminiscent of some of the work Chad Gray did with HellYeah. This album is more L.D 50 than say Lost and Found which is definitely a good thing. One cool thing that Mudvayne did with the packaging of the album is they had world known horror tattoo artists Paul Booth create custom artwork for the album cover. The cover can only be seen under a black light and appears to be a blank white cover to the naked eye. This is a very awesome idea which gives people incentive to purchase the album.

Track List

1. "Beautiful and Strange"
2. "1000 Mile Journey"
3. "Scream With Me"
4. "Closer"
5. "Heard It All Before"
6. "I Can't Wait"
7. "Beyond the Pale"
8. "All Talk"
9. "Out to Pasture"
10. "Burn the Bridge"
11. "Dead Inside"



--Steven M. Duarte