The group consist of Chad Gray (lead vocals), Greg Tribbett (guitar, vocals), Ryan Martinie (bass guitar) and Matthew McDonough (drums). Formed in 1996, Mudvayne became popular in the late-1990s Decatur, Illinois underground music scene. The band released an EP, Kill, I Oughtta, in 1997 and a successful debut album, L.D. 50, in 2000. They had global success with The End of All Things to Come, Lost and Found and The New Game, the band went on hiatus in 2010 and reunited in 2021.
The band was inactive since 2010, with its members performing in other projects and making guest appearances. Chad Gray is the vocalist for the heavy metal supergroup Hellyeah, to which Greg Tribbett was also a member until 2014. Gray founded an independent record label, Bullygoat Records, which produces heavy-metal albums. In early 2015, Chad Gray noted that the band's return seemed very unlikely, unless "everybody licked their wounds and got over it".
Early days (1996–97)
Mudvayne, formed in 1995 in Bloomington, Illinois, originally consisted of bassist Shawn Barclay, guitarist Greg Tribbett and drummer Matthew McDonough. The band's original lineup finalized when Chad Gray, who was earning $40,000 a year in a factory, quit his day job to become its singer. In 1997 Mudvayne financed its debut EP, Kill, I Oughtta.
During the EP's recording Barclay was replaced by Ryan Martinie, former bassist for the progressive-rock band Broken Altar. After self-distributing Kill, I Oughtta, Mudvayne adopted stage names and face paint.
L.D. 50 (1998–2000)
In April 1998 local promoter Steve Soderstrom introduced Mudvayne to its original manager, Chuck Toler, who helped obtain a contract with Epic Records and record the 2000 debut studio album L.D. 50. For the album, Mudvayne experimented with a ragged, dissonant sound; a sound collage, prepared for the album, was used as a series of interludes. L.D. 50 was produced by Garth Richardson, with executive production by Slipknot member Shawn Crahan.
L.D. 50 peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and No. 85 on the Billboard 200. The singles "Dig" and "Death Blooms" peaked at No. 33 and No. 32 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Although the album was praised, some critics found the band hard to take seriously.
To promote L.D. 50, Mudvayne played on the Tattoo the Earth tour with Nothingface, Slayer, Slipknot and Sevendust. Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell became friends with Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray, and they explored the possibility of a supergroup. The following year, Nothingface again toured with Mudvayne; although plans for a supergroup continued, they were put on hold due to scheduling conflicts. Gray and Maxwell had discussed five names for the group, and Mudvayne guitarist Greg Tribbett approached Maxwell "out of the blue" to join it. Although Nothingface drummer Tommy Sickles played on the group's demo, the search for another drummer began.
The End of All Things to Come (2001–02)
In 2002 Mudvayne released The End of All Things to Come, which the band considers its "black album" due to its largely-black artwork. Isolation inspired the album's songs. During its mixing, Gray and McDonough stopped at Bob's Big Boy and Gray remembered overhearing someone "say something like, ' ... and he's got to cut his own eye out'". When he asked McDonough if he heard the conversation McDonough said he hadn't, and Gray thought it was someone discussing a scene from a screenplay.
The album expanded on L.D. 50, with a wider range of riffs, tempos, moods and vocals. Because of this experimentation, Entertainment Weekly called this album more "user-friendly" than its predecessor and it was one of 2002's most acclaimed heavy-metal albums. The music video for the single "Not Falling" demonstrated the Mudvayne's change in appearance from L.D. 50, with the musicians transformed into veined creatures with white, egg-colored bug eyes.
Lost and Found (2003–05)
In 2003 Mudvayne participated in the Summer Sanitarium Tour, headlined by Metallica, and in September Chad Gray appeared on V Shape Mind's debut studio album Cul-De-Sac. The following year the band began work on its third album, produced by Dave Fortman. As for the previous album, Mudvayne withdrew to write songs; they moved into a house, writing the album in four months before recording began. In February Gray and Martinie expressed an interest in appearing on Within The Mind - In Homage To The Musical Legacy Of Chuck Schuldiner, a tribute to the founder of the metal band Death, but the album was never produced.
In 2005 Chad Gray established independent record label Bullygoat Records and Bloodsimple's debut album, A Cruel World (with a guest appearance by Gray), appeared in March. On April 12, Mudvayne released Lost and Found. The album's first single, "Happy?", featured complex guitar work and Gray described "Choices" as "the eight-minute opus".
In August former Mudvayne bassist Shawn Barclay released his band Sprung's debut album, mastered by King's X guitarist Ty Tabor. That month rumors spread that Bullygoat Records would release We Pay Our Debt Sometimes: A Tribute to Alice in Chains, with performances by Mudvayne, Cold, Audioslave, Breaking Benjamin, Static-X and the surviving members of Alice in Chains. A spokesperson for Alice in Chains told the press that the band was unaware of any tribute album, and Mudvayne's manager said that reports of the album were only rumors.
In September the band met with director Darren Lynn Bousman, whose film Saw II was in production and would include "Forget to Remember" from Lost and Found. Bousman showed them a scene of a man cutting his eye out of his skull to retrieve a key. When Gray told Bousman about the conversation at Bob's Big Boy two years earlier, Bousman said he holds his production meetings at the restaurant and Saw II was based on a screenplay he wrote years earlier. Gray appeared briefly in the film, and the music video for "Forget to Remember" contained clips from Saw II.
The New Game and Mudvayne (2006–09)
In 2006, Gray, Tribbett and Tom Maxwell were joined by former Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul for the supergroup Hellyeah. On March 8, when Mudvayne and Korn performed at the KBPI Birthday Bash in Denver, Thornton waitress Nicole LaScalia was injured during Mudvayne's set. Two years later, LaScalia filed a lawsuit against radio-station owner Clear Channel Broadcasting, concert promoter Live Nation, the University of Denver and members of Mudvayne and Korn. During the summer, Gray, Tribbett, Maxwell and Paul recorded an album as Hellyeah. After a tour with Sevendust, Mudvayne released the 2007 retrospective By the People, for the People (compiled from selections chosen by fans on the band's website). The album debuted at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 22,000 copies in its first week.
After Gray and Tribbett returned from touring with Hellyeah, Mudvayne began recording The New Game with Dave Fortman. After the album's 2008 release, Fortman told MTV that it would be followed in six months by another full-length record.
For its self-titled fifth album Mudvayne hoped to create a "white album", describing its cover art. Mudvayne was recorded in the summer of 2008 in El Paso, Texas. The album, printed with blacklight paint, was only visible under a black light (a light whose wavelength is primarily ultraviolet).
Hiatus and break-up (2010–2021)
In 2010, Mudvayne again paused to allow Gray and Tribbett to tour with Hellyeah, and because of the supergroup's album releases the band would be on hiatus until at least 2014. With Hellyeah, Gray and Tribbett have recorded three albums: Stampede, Band of Brothers and Blood for Blood. In 2012, Ryan Martinie toured with Korn as a temporary replacement for bassist Reginald Arvizu, who remained at home during his wife's pregnancy. The following year Martinie played bass on Kurai's debut EP, Breaking the Broken, and in 2014 Tribbett left Hellyeah.
In a new interview with Songfacts in 2015, Gray said that Mudvayne's return seemed unlikely: I don't know if the full band will [ever reunite]. Who knows — they might be putting something else together. We were talking for a while and that whole thing with Greg [Tribbett's 2014 departure from Hellyeah] went down and everything kind of fell apart. Our relationship, which was the only truly solid relationship in the group, although Matt [McDonough] and I are still great, Ryan [Martinie] and I still briefly talk. I mean, the only way I personally would want to do Mudvayne is if everybody licked their wounds and got over it. There's a lot of things in that band that tore us apart. Maybe Mudvayne was the martyr for people that stopped supporting music. You sell 159,000 records the first week, and then the next record is like, 'Whatever, f--k it.' Maybe it's a subliminal message if you don't support things... Mudvayne's probably bigger now than it ever was. So, people want what they can't have.
In 2015, former Mudvayne members Tribbett and McDonough formed the band Audiotopsy with Skrape vocalist Billy Keeton and bassist Perry Stern. Audiotopsy describes its sound as "progressive hard rock."
Musical style and influences
Mudvayne is noted for its musical complexity. The band's music contains what McDonough calls "number symbolism", where certain riffs correspond to lyrical themes. Mudvayne has incorporated elements of death metal, jazz fusion and progressive rock. In addition to these styles, L.D. 50 featured world music and speed metal. Although Mudvayne has been inspired by Obituary, Emperor, Tool, Pantera, Mötley Crüe, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree and Metallica, according to them they are not influenced by other metal bands. They have repeatedly expressed admiration for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and were influenced by the film during the recording of L.D. 50.
Although the band has described its style as "math rock" and "math metal", drummer Matt McDonough said in 2009:
I honestly don't know what 'math metal' is. I made a joke early on in Mudvayne's career that we used an abacus in writing. It seems I should be careful making jokes in interviews. I don't really see Mudvayne as an innovator in anything.
Music critics and journalists have categorized the band as alternative metal, experimental metal, extreme metal, hard rock, heavy metal, industrial metal, math metal, metalcore, neo-progressive metal, neo-progressive rock, nu metal, progressive rock, progressive metal and shock rock.
Appearance
Although Mudvayne was known for its appearance, Gray described its aesthetic as "music first, visuals second". When L.D. 50 was released, the band performed in horror film-style makeup. Epic Records initially promoted Mudvayne without focusing on its members; early promotional materials featured a logo instead of photos of the band, but its appearance and music videos publicized L.D. 50. The members of Mudvayne were originally known by the stage names Kud, sPaG, Ryknow and Gurrg. At the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards (where they won the MTV2 Award for "Dig"), the band appeared in white suits with bloody bullet-hole makeup on their foreheads.[ After 2002, Mudvayne changed makeup styles (from multicolored face paint to extraterrestrials) and changed their stage names to Chüd, Güüg, Rü-D, and Spüg. According to the band, the extravagant makeup added a visual aspect to their music and set them apart from other metal bands. Since 2003 Mudvayne has largely abandoned makeup, but said that a future return to it is not out of the question.
Discography
L.D. 50 (2000)
The End of All Things to Come (2002)
Lost and Found (2005)
The New Game (2008)
Mudvayne (2009)
Silenced
Mudvayne Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We've got something to say
Police this, condemn this, damn this
We'll be heard anyway
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm silenced
Listen here
That we're all just equal,
Slam the power down
Abusing
Does it pss you off to be beat at your own game
You lead us with false morals and shelter reality
No more, we're not buying your product when
You're selling
The words preaching silence
Insult me in my home,
When you were never invited,
To live life on your curve
Frustrating,
Throw sticks into the spokes,
To relieve insecurities,
Stifle all ascension and sticker our freedom
Of speech
Sticker this, censor this, ban this
We've got something to say
Police this, condemn this, damn this
We'll be heard anyway
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm silenced
Don't tell me what I want
Don't tell me what I need
Don't tell me how I need to feel
I feel, goddamn nothing
Dig the eyes out of my face and I can still see right
Fuckin' through you,
Fuck you and everything you are,
I'm me, we're us and that's all
Closed mind with a forum to criticize,
Keep your policy and I've got mine
Exploit me, fabricate your lies
We empower these cowards just to be left in
Silence
Listen here
Stand on my soapbox,
And speak my own peace,
Whatever you may think,
It's real,
Prevail through what is me,
And step on your beliefs
Thieving spineless sellouts, robbing our integrity
Sticker this, censor this, ban this
We've got something to say
Police this, condemn this, damn this
We'll be heard anyway
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm
silenced
The lyrics to Mudvayne's "Silenced" exude a strong sentiment of defiance against censorship and oppression. The song is a call to action for those who have been silenced and marginalized by those in power. The first few lines of the song make it clear that the band is well aware of the attempts being made to silence them - they are being censored, banned, and policed. But Mudvayne is not going to sit back and allow this to happen without a fight - they are going to speak out and be heard regardless.
The lyrics also touch on issues of equality, calling out those who abuse their power and lead with false morals that shelter reality. Mudvayne is standing up to those who insult them in their own home and throw sticks into their spokes, stifling their ability to ascend and express themselves freely. The middle finger is used as the flag of resistance, a symbol of defiance against those who seek to silence them.
The chorus is a resounding shout of frustration and a call to action. Mudvayne refuses to be silenced and will speak their truth no matter what is thrown their way. They reject the notion that anyone can tell them what they want or need or how they should feel. They will prevail through their own unique identity, regardless of others' criticisms and policies. Mudvayne empowers themselves and refuses to be exploited by spineless sellouts and those who seek to rob them of their integrity.
Line by Line Meaning
Sticker this, censor this, ban this
We won't be silenced and will fight for our freedom of speech.
We've got something to say
We have important messages that need to be heard.
Police this, condemn this, damn this
Even if you try to stop us, we will still speak out.
We'll be heard anyway
Absolutely nothing can stop us from getting our messages out there.
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm silenced
When we're silenced, we use the defiant gesture of raising our middle finger as a way to show that we still have power and refuse to be silenced.
Is it a possibility?
Is there a chance that we are all equal and should be treated as such?
That we're all just equal
We believe that everyone should be treated as equals.
Slam the power down
We need to fight against those who use their power to oppress others.
Abusing
Those in power often abuse it to maintain their position of authority.
Does it piss you off to be beat at your own game?
Do those in power get angry when they are challenged and beaten at their own game?
You lead us with false morals and shelter reality
Those in power often manipulate us by presenting false morals and hiding the true reality from us.
No more, we're not buying your product when you're selling the words preaching silence
We won't be fooled anymore by those in power who try to sell us the idea that we should be silent and follow their rules.
Insult me in my home, When you were never invited, To live life on your curve
We won't allow those in power to insult and oppress us in our own homes when they have no right to dictate how we live.
Frustrating, Throw sticks into the spokes, To relieve insecurities, Stifle all ascension and sticker our freedom Of speech
It's frustrating when those in power try to put obstacles in our way, suppress our advances, and limit our freedom of speech.
Don't tell me what I want
We won't let those in power dictate what we want or need.
Don't tell me what I need
We won't let those in power tell us what we need or how we should feel.
Don't tell me how I need to feel
We won't let those in power control our emotions or tell us how we should feel.
I feel, goddamn nothing
We won't let those in power manipulate our emotions and make us numb to what's happening around us.
Dig the eyes out of my face and I can still see right through you, Fuckin' through you, Fuck you and everything you are, I'm me, we're us and that's all
Even if they try to take everything from us, even our eyes, we will still see through them and their lies. We won't let them make us feel inferior or change who we are.
Closed mind with a forum to criticize, Keep your policy and I've got mine, Exploit me, fabricate your lies, We empower these cowards just to be left in silence
Those in power often have closed minds and criticize us for speaking out, and even if they try to use their policies to exploit us and spread lies, we will still empower ourselves and refuse to be silenced.
Stand on my soapbox, And speak my own peace, Whatever you may think, It's real, Prevail through what is me, And step on your beliefs Thieving spineless sellouts, robbing our integrity
We will stand up on our soapbox and speak our minds, whatever others may think. We will be true to ourselves and stand up for our beliefs, even if it means going against those in power who are spineless sellouts and rob us of our integrity.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHAD L. GRAY, GREG TRIBBETT, MATTHEW MCDONOUGH, RYAN MARTINIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind