MuDvAyNe

L.D. 50 (Epic)
by Scott Hefflon

While I initially thought MuDvAyNe (that’s Mudvayne to those of us not wearing goofy make-up) was going to be silliest of the silly (and being nü metal, they have no choice), there’re a couple elements that save them… Most importantly, they either’ve listened to Meshuggah or they’re copycatting someone who has. While not having the mind-numbling tempo changes and guitar skitters (let’s be realistic here), they get the percussive vocal presentation and mix it with the usual Korn and Tool stylings. And even those are bearable, sometimes enjoyable. No, really… Remember the first time you heard Korn, before you realized what halfwits they were and that they inadvertently spawned a genre even dumber? Remember how the whisper-to-a-distorted-howl made you gape, and the funky breaks in the wall of stuttering guitars made your heart race and your body rock? Well, by throwing in some Voivod chords, some almost, dare I say? (dare! dare!), emo fills, and some of the better Toolish sensitizing (and add in the aforementioned Meshuggah appreciation and perhaps some Fear Factory), these guys actually raise the bar by simply bringing in more favorite pieces. And while I still hate nü metal for dumbing down metal for the meatheads (Pantera and Meshuggah still whup 99% of the bands’ asses, and any competent death metal band could play this shit without breaking a sweat), this’ll be fun to piss off the neighbors.
(www.mudvayne.com)