Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band. Their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate visual appearance, which has included face and body paint, masks and uniforms. They have sold over 6 million records worldwide, including nearly 3 million records in the United States.

The band consists of Chad Gray, Greg Tribbett, Ryan Martinie and Matthew McDonough. Formed in 1996, Mudvayne became popular playing in the Peoria, Illinois underground music scene in the late 1990s, and released an extended play, Kill, I Oughtta (1997), and a successful debut album, L.D. 50 (2000). Mudvayne achieved worldwide critical and commercial success with The End of All Things to Come, Lost and Found and a self-titled album.

History[link]

[edit] Early days, L.D. 50 and The End of All Things to Come

Mudvayne formed in 1996 in Bloomington, Illinois, and originally consisted of Chad Gray, Greg Tribbett and Matthew McDonough.^[1] After a year of performing on the local circuit, the band's line-up was finalized with bassist Ryan Martinie, and they self-financed the recording of an extended play, Kill, I Oughtta, which the band independently released themselves. Following the release of the EP, the band adopted stage names and facepaint.^[1][2][3]

In April 1998 local promoter Steve Soderstrom introduced the band their original manager Chuck Toler who helped get the band a contract with Epic Records, and recorded their debut studio album, L.D. 50 (2000).^[3][4] For the album, Mudvayne experimented with a ragged, dissonant sound;^[5] a sound collage prepared for the album appeared as a series of interludes.^[1][6] L.D. 50 was produced by Garth "GGGarth" Richardson^[7] and executive produced by Slipknot member Shawn Crahan.^[1][4] L.D. 50 peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and #85 on the Billboard 200.^[8] The singles "Dig" and "Death Blooms" peaked at #33 and #32 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.^[8] The album was appraised for its technicality and heaviness,^[9] although some critics found the band hard to take seriously.^[10]

To promote the album, Mudvayne played on the Tattoo the Earth tour alongside Nothingface, Slayer, Slipknot and Sevendust. Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell became friends with Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray, and they talked about the possibility of forming a supergroup. The following year, Nothingface toured with Mudvayne and talks to form the supergroup continued, although were constantly put on hold due to scheduling conflicts. At this time, Gray and Maxwell had brainstormed five band names. Mudvayne guitarist Greg Tribbett approached Maxwell "out of the blue" and wanted to join the band. Nothingface drummer Tommy Sickles originally helmed the drum kit for the band's demo, however, things did not work out and the search for a new drummer began.^[11]

In 2002, Mudvayne released the album The End of All Things to Come, which the band considers to be their "black album", due to its largely black artwork.^[12] Isolation provided inspiration for the album's songwriting.^[13] The album expanded upon the sound of L.D. 50 with a wider range of riffs, tempos, moods and vocalization.^[5] As a result of this experimentation, Entertainment Weekly deemed this album to be more "user-friendly" than its predecessor;^[14] it subsequently went on to become one of 2002's most acclaimed heavy metal albums.^[15]

The music video for the single "Not Falling" revealed the transition from the band's makeup design from their previous album by having the band members being transformed into veiny creatures with white, egg-colored bug eyes.^[16]

[edit] Lost and Found, The New Game and self-titled album

In 2003, Mudvayne participated in the Summer Sanitarium Tour, headlined by Metallica.^[13] In 2004, they began working on their third studio album, Lost and Found, with Dave Fortman;^[13][17] As with the band's previous album, Mudvayne chose to isolate themselves to provide inspiration for their songwriting, moving into a house together and writing the album in four months, after which recording commenced.^[13][18] The album, released on April 12, 2005, departed from the sound of previous albums; the album's first single, "Happy?" featured complex guitar playing, while the song "Choices" was described by Gray as "the eight-minute opus".^[13]

During the mixing of The End of All Things to Come, Gray and McDonough stopped at Bob's Big Boy, and Gray recalled that he overheard someone "say something like, '... and he's got to cut his own eye out'". When Gray asked McDonough if he had heard the conversation, McDonough said that he hadn't, and Gray figured that it was someone discussing a scene from a film screenplay.^[19] In September 2005, the band met with film director Darren Lynn Bousman, whose film Saw II was in production and would feature the single "Forget to Remember", from Lost and Found. Bousman showed them a scene depicting a man cutting his own eye out of his skull to retrieve a key. Gray told Bousman about the conversation at Bob's Big Boy two years earlier, and Bousman revealed that he holds his production meetings at the restaurant, and that Saw II had been based on a screenplay Bousman wrote years earlier.^[19] Gray appeared in a small role in the film, and a music video was produced for "Forget to Remember", which featured clips from the film.^[19]

In 2006, Gray, Tribbett and Tom Maxwell were joined by former Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul for their supergroup, which they named Hellyeah. During the summer of 2006, schedules were clear, which allowed members to take the time to record a studio album.^[20] Following a tour with Sevendust, Mudvayne released the retrospective compilation, By the People, for the People in 2007, which was compiled from selections voted for by fans through the band's website.^[21] The compilation debuted at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 22,000 copies in its first week.^[19][22] After the return of Gray and Tribbett from their touring commitments with side project Hellyeah, Mudvayne began the recording process for The New Game with Fortman.^[23] After the album was released in 2008, Fortman reported to MTV that the album will be followed six months later by a second full-length record.^[24]

For the release of their self-titled fifth studio album, Mudvayne hoped to create their "white album", which would be reflected through the cover art.^[12] It was recorded during Summer 2008 in El Paso, Texas.^[25] The album was printed entirely in blacklight-reactive ink, making it only visible under a black light, a source of light whose wavelengths are primarily in the ultraviolet.^[26] In 2011, the band once again went on hiatus to allow Gray and Tribbett to tour with Hellyeah, and because of the new Hellyeah record, Mudvayne will be on hiatus until 2014.^[27]

Style[link]

Music [link]

Mudvayne bassist Ryan Martinie is known for his complex basslines and unique playing style.

Influenced by performers such as Emperor, King Crimson and Porcupine Tree,^[28] Mudvayne is noted for musical complexity.^[29] The band's music often contains what McDonough refers to as "number symbolism", in which certain riffs are used that correspond with thematic elements of the song's lyrics.^[3] The band has incorporated elements of death metal,^[3][5] jazz fusion,^[5][30] and progressive rock.^[3][5] In addition to these styles, L.D. 50 incorporated elements of hardcore punk^[3] and speed metal.^[3]

The band has described its style as "math metal",^[28][31] while music reviewers and journalists have categorized the band as alternative metal,^[32][33] extreme metal,^[34] hard rock,^[35] heavy metal,^[36][37][38] neo-progressive rock,^[39] nu metal,^{[40][41][42][43][44]} progressive rock^[45][46], progressive metal,^[47][48][45] and shock rock.^[35]

Appearance [link]

Mudvayne was formerly known for its strong visual appearance. Gray described the band's aesthetic as "music first, visuals second".^[13] During the release of L.D. 50, the band performed in horror film-styled makeup.^[4] Epic Records initially chose to promote the band without focusing on its appearance, and early promotional materials featured a logo instead of photographs of the band. The band's appearance and music videos increased recognition of the album.^[4] The band was initially known under the stage names Kud, sPaG, Ryknow and Gurrg.^[1] After 2002, the band changed makeup styles from multicolored face paint to dressing up as aliens and changing the stage names, now they were Chüd, Güüg, Rü-D, and Spüg.^[5] Mudvayne's reason for wearing such extravagant makeup was, according to the band, to add a visual aspect to their music and to set them apart from other run-of-the-mill metal bands.^[49] Since 2005, Mudvayne has largely stopped using makeup, but have stated that future use of makeup is not out of the question.^[50]

Band members [link]

Timeline

 id:Vocals              value:gray(0.6)  legend:Lead vocals
 id:Guitar              value:green      legend:Guitars
 id:Bass                value:purple     legend:Bass
 id:Drums               value:blue       legend:Drums
 id:Lines               value:black      legend:Releases

 at:08/22/2000 color:black layer:back
 at:11/19/2002 color:black layer:back
 at:04/12/2005 color:black layer:back
 at:11/18/2008 color:black layer:back
 at:12/21/2009 color:black layer:back

 bar:Gray text:"Chad Gray"
 bar:Tribbett text:"Greg Tribbett"
 bar:Barclay text: "Shawn Barclay"
 bar:Martinie text: "Ryan Martinie"
 bar:McDonough text: "Matthew McDonough"

 width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Gray from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Vocals
 bar:Tribbett from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Guitar
 bar:Barclay from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1998 color:Bass
 bar:Martinie from:01/01/1998 till:end color:Bass
 bar:McDonough from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Drums

Discography[link]

• L.D. 50 (2000)
• The End of All Things to Come (2002)
• Lost and Found (2005)
• The New Game (2008)
• Mudvayne (2009)

References [link]

External links [link]

• Official website
• Mudvayne on MySpace