November 19, 2002 - The End Of All Things To Come

A day after my last release and a little over two years since "L.D. 50", Mudvayne released their second album "The End Of All Things To Come" on November 19, 2002. After their amazing first full-length album Mudvayne expand and experiment more on this second album, with less punishing heaviness, and more varied influences, such as prog and jazz! I'm a little sad at the drop in heaviness, but intrigued to hear some new Mudvayne. Let's dive in!

The album kicks off with "Silenced" and Ryan Martinie is instantly playing some pretty great bass to set the stage for the rest of the band to come smashing in with a nice heavy main riff. Greg Tribbett plays some pretty cool guitar, Matthew McDonough adds a solid drum beat and Chad Gray mixes singing and screaming very nicely and I love his super high screams. It's a short opener but a solid one for sure. Up next is "Trapped In The Wake Of A Dream" and Tribbett plays some nice chugging guitars while Martinie plays some more super cool bass in the background. The guitars quiet right down for the verse and Gray sings a soft verse to match the mood. It's not a headbanger of a verse but it's quietly decent and the chorus is still typical Mudvayne with heavy guitars and some typically nice screaming by Gray. The contrasting volumes makes each part sound even more emphatic. Track 3 is the album's lead single "Not Falling" and Tribbett leads the way with a fast-paced and super catchy metal riff that is an instant toe-tapper! Martinie plays some cool bass if you can focus on it in the background and Gray leads a solid but pretty pop-y verse by Mudvayne's standards. Gray alternates between singing and screaming nicely in the catchy chorus and it's easy to see why this was the lead single. After a couple rounds they shift to a coop new part with some nice drums by McDonough and some great rolling guitars and Gray really let's loose with several piercingly high screams. A pretty sweet single! The next track is "(Per)version Of A Truth" and they dive right into a slow and distorted main riff with Gray singing softly overtop. When Gray mixes in some screams things sound pretty good but most of this song is on the simpler side and just lacks the energy you'd expect from these guys. It does pick up at the end with a heavy and strong finish at least. Track 5 is titled "Mercy, Severity" and they jump right into a pretty cool stop and start riff that is nice and heavy, then Tribbett switches to some light but creepy guitar for the verse and Gray shouts nicely overtop. The stop-and-start returns for the heavy chorus and Gray sounds pretty great mixing his singing and screaming. Tribbett even delivers a rare guitar solo and it sounds really awesome! All in all a pretty cool tune! Up next is the only other single "World So Cold" and Tribbett plays a super light and simple guitar riff and Gray sings a soft pop-y verse overtop and this certainly doesn't sound like your typical Mudvayne as they try to be more radio-friendly for the single. The chorus is a little heavier and Gray does some nice vocal layering so we get singing and screaming simultaneously and that sounds pretty cool. The verse is so light and fluffy and un-Mudvayne though. After a couple rounds Gray goes full rapping/screaming like he did lots of times on the debut and that part is very refreshingly heavy and cool! Gray does some nice long screams towards the end as they jam things out and McDonough's drums are pretty cool as well. Track 7 is "The Patient Mental" and they dive right into a pretty groovy main riff with some catchy guitar by Tribbett leading the way. Gray sings the verse and switches to screaming in the chorus, but it's a bit of a muted, quieter scream that takes a bit of air out of things. Things still sound solid, but it's weird for these guys to do things on the tamer side, which makes it especially weird when they get very mellow after a couple rounds. Gray leads a soft new part before they return to the main riff and this was a lesser one for me for sure. The next track is "Skrying" and they jump right into an interesting main riff with some distorted and cool guitars and of course some solid bass by Martinie. Gray once again sings the verse and screams the chorus but he sounds more like his intense self this time. After a couple rounds things get really quiet with just some creepy distorted bass and out of this they start to build up a slow, creepy new riff that slams very nicely into a heavy headbanger! They jam out the end of the song a little too long, but it was still a solid tune. Track 9 is "Solve Et Coagula" and it's got some cool distorted guitar, some great heavy bass and some sweet fast drums that combine for a really awesome main riff with all kinds of cool stuff going on! Gray holds a couple nice long screams and he mixes his singing and screaming very nicely in the verse. The chorus is all screams, high and low and everything sounds pretty sweet! This is the relentless metal attack that I love about Mudvayne! It's less than three minutes long, but it was awesome the whole way through! Up next is "Shadow Of A Man" and they dive into a solid chorus riff before moving into a lighter main riff with some creepy guitar and some light singing by Gray. The chorus is also more radio-friendly but still decently heavy and I was still headbanging! The verse is a little light for me but the rest of the song is pretty good. Track 11 is titled "12:97:24:99" but it's just 11 seconds long and I don't hear a thing, seems to just be silence! That's really weird and unnecessary! The next real track is the title track "The End Of All Things To Come" and the guitars and bass sync up for a cool stop-and-start riff while McDonough plays some cool drums the whole time. Gray starts to scream wonderfully overtop and this great heavy verse shifts into a groovy chorus with some cool bass and some great speedy singing/screaming by Gray. I love the nu-metal feel to everything and they are nailing it on this title track! There's even one hell of a breakdown towards the end and it sounds so fucking fantastic! This is easily the best song on the album for me, three pretty awesome minutes! The final song on the album is "A Key To Nothing" and Tribbett plays a cool stop-and-start guitar riff while Martinie plays some more phenomenally groovy bass in the background. McDonough plays some catchy drums and Gray sings the lead track and also adds screaming backing vocals for a nice mix. The chorus is a little pop-y and falls a little flat but things still sound pretty decent and there's a nice heavy part after the first few rounds. The closing riff that they jam out is catchy and pretty cool until everything slowly and nicely dies at the finish.

That is the end of "The End Of All Things To Come" and I thought it was a pretty good album, but certainly a more experimental one than their debut. Mudvayne try out some less heavy material on this album that is still good, but "L.D. 50" was so jam packed with awesomeness that the two don't compare at all. Where will Mudvayne go from here? I can't wait to find out!