You either love or hate the intense demonic sound of Mudvayne the first time you hear it. But those who look deeper find something more musically and artistically incredible than the obvious metal sound.
Mudvayne combine monster riffs with passionate multi-dimensional vocals and intelligent lyrics and concepts, take for example the contrasting vocal styles of 'Nothing to Gein' and 'Dig'.
Formed in Peoria, Illinois in 1996, Mudvayne grew from a shared musical vision and began winning over audiences with their intense live shows. They released their first album 'Kill I Oughta', which was self released and limited to 1000 copies in their home town (and is due to be re-released in late 2001). As they grew as a band, Mudvayne began securing support slots with bands such as Slipknot, and their first proper album L.D 50 was released in 2000.
'L.D 50' is a medical term: 'Lethal Dosage 50' is the amount of a chemical it takes to kill 50/100 test subjects. The album is intense, with many concepts and influences, a major one being the movies of director Stanley Kubrick, especially 2001:A Space Odyssey, it's metaphors being a big influence on the album. " The overall theme of the album reflects and embodies ideas about the evolution of consciousness,transformation and risks involved in experimenting with things that can change a persons point of view, internally and externally". (SpaG, Official Bio.)
Mudvayne toured the UK with One Minute Silence in December 2000, and performed at this years Ozzfest, securing the beginnings of a strong UK fanbase. They've yet to headline their own tour over here, after cancelling in March.
Mudvayne are not for the faint-hearted, Mudvayne are serious, and the future hopefully holds more of the successful formula of multi-layered heavy metal music.
Those who care to look beyond the colourful facade and the shallow comparisons to Slipknot will find something unique, challenging, intelligent, unsettling and truly dark.

N.Ford 2001