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Mudvayne: The End Of All Things To Come (Digipack) Mallcore Epic Records 2000
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Review
The second full length album by Mudvayne is one that fans will remember as the real turning point for the band. While L.D. 50 was a good album that came out of nowhere and just slightly raised the bar for the then "nu-metal" scene, it was this album that really set the standards for this style higher with the band's rather abrupt musical maturing. The End Of All Things To Come finds the band utilizing more structure in their songs, which was something their last release, L.D. 50 was severely lacking. Instead of tracks that can often seem all over the place, you have great songs that flow smoothly from start to finish while still retaining some of the "insane" aspects the band was originally known for. The End Of All Things To Come is a very enjoyable album with tighter music that is far more enjoyable, even though it continues to utilize rather simplistic riffs in a groove metal execution. "Not Falling" and "(Per)version Of A Truth" are perhaps the best instances of this, one being a much heavier song that will get your head banging, and the other a much lighter song that utilizes both singing and screaming. While this is a huge step in the right direction for the band, that doesn't mean this album is an absolute masterpiece. "The Patient Mental" is a rather slow paced song that picks up during the chorus, but everything else about it just feels really bland and could easily put you to sleep if given the chance, and the jazzy sounding "Skrying" really seems like it's more a filler track then anything with it's stoner like guitar work during the main verses, and even slow guitar work for the chorus. "Solve Et Coagula" is a decent track, but not that memorable a song on the album, especially considering some of the other well written, heavier songs like "Silenced", "Not Falling" and "World So Cold". BONUS DVD Included in the digipack version of the album is a bonus DVD that features a few behind the scenes videos, and two songs that didn't make the cut for the final product of the album (and it's obvious why). There, sadly, are really no parts of this worth actually checking out. The "Photo Shoot" segment is short and sweet as well, and shows what the band went through the be transformed into the aliens for the artwork, but they don't really give any info, just shows them having the heads molded, being painted for the shoot, and randomly you see slow motion scenes of them from the shoot, as well as a small segment where they "hatch from the egg". "Downtime" is just a little less then two minutes of the band riding moutain bikes, and forget about "Dinner With Mudvayne", which is listed on the back of the case as "The Interview", as it's not. It's two of the band members, "Chud" and "Spug", talking between each other about random stuff related to the album, or that people don't care about. All in all, The End Of All Things To Come is a good step forward for the band, but still can use a little work. Much of the music on here is very simple, and sometimes just sounds rehashed from songs on this release, as well as L.D.50, with some tracks on here that feel as though they are simply there for filler. The Bonus DVD that is included isn't really worth grabbing outside of "On The Move", which is an audio track playable only on a DVD player. You can probably find this release dirt cheap, both used and new, and it really is worth giving a shot, just don't expect the Earth to move beneath your feet as you listen to it, but song like "Silenced" and "Not Falling" will definitely make you want to try to shake it yourself.
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