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Mudvayne - L.D. 50 review



Reviewer:
8.0

240 users:
8.1
Band: Mudvayne
Album: L.D. 50
Release date: 2000


01. Monolith
02. Dig
03. Internal Primates Forever
04. -1
05. Death Blooms
06. Golden Ratio
07. Cradle
08. Nothing To Gein
09. Mutatis Mutandis
10. Everything And Nothing
11. Severed
12. Recombinant Resurgence
13. Prod
14. Pharmaecopia
15. Under My Skin
16. (K)now F(orever)
17. Lethal Dosage

Nu-Metal arrived with ferocious anger back in the 90's or something, crappy bands such as Slipknot, Mushroomhead, Limp Biskit , and a long etc. drowned the metal scene with their idiotic songwriting, their dull execution and with the worst image a metal band can have (f.e. stupid dinosaur masks, ridiculous body paint, etc.) that's more o less why metal-heads fucking hate this genre. Well I said all this for one reason, I want to say that I don't fucking hate Nu-Metal because I've found a couple of bands with decent music, and right now I'll talk about one of them.

L.D. 50 proves all the metal-heads wrong, this album has good songwriting and interesting structures (f.e. the intro Monolith"). The songs presented here are catchy as most nu-riffs, but this time there are technical edges; it's actually great to hear funky bass-lines and irregular beats in songs like "Internal Primates Forever". Most of the songs have something interesting in them, even if it is a cool background or a weird effect, in the end it sounds just great; then there's the counterpart, a lot of songs, even when having some cool features, have also awful things (muddy melodies, annoying high-pitched tones, etc.). So if you think this in the positive way Mudvayne has balance in their album, inexperienced and irreverent balance, but balance nonetheless.

So what's so great about this band? Their ability to make different songs and original lines; there are some bands with superior originality levels of course (f.e. Korn), but Mudvayne had the guts to add bizarre tones, crazy bass-lines, asymmetrical drumming and chromatic vocals. That's exactly what makes this band better than most nu-metal groups doing the same Slipknot shit over and over again.

There's a song I highly recommend you to hear, it's called Prod and please try it with it's introduction called Recombinant Resurgence, you'll have then 2 minutes of weird sounds and creepy atmosphere to finally hear 6 minutes of amazing music. What I like the most of Prod is the layered scheme, the instruments can be fully appreciated both in separate ways and as a whole, the structure of this song is like nothing I've heard before, something like a simultaneous chord progression with at least 3 breakdowns between them to finally end with an explosion of every element presented in the entire song; yes it's nu-metal in the end, but a very good kind if you know what I mean.

This L.D. 50 trip is really implausible and amazing even in the layout and production; then I bought their album The End Of All Things To Come because I though they would do a fucking impressive work as a natural development and I was awfully wrong, I had to sell that album due to its crappiness, then I never had the guts to buy their last album called Lost And Found. But I still remember the old days when Mudvayne delivered one of the most original albums in Nu-Metal history, I still remember saying "damn, let me pick my brains and my shit up of the floor?" and actually I still say those things when I hear this album.

Best Tracks: You can actually divide this album in two, the first half (tracks 1-8) it's not THAT good, but damn the second half (9-17) fucking rules and that's why I'm giving this rating?"Prod", "(k)Now F(orever)", "Pharmaecopia", "Death Blooms"

Written by Herzebeth | 22.04.2006




Comments

Comments: 11   Visited by: 232 users
26.07.2007 - 06:46
graywolf87
Account deleted
...you are right nu-metal (I beleive it died thanks to metalcore?) well...we all hate it and we hate metalcore even more? right?...Mudvayne was the exception out of the bunch...new sound nu-metal in every way but somehow it was different, a tone never before achieved nor played original and meaningful almost like doomed nu-heavy darkened metal...it wasn't random, it wasn't just some simple pop shit out there these guys wanted to give a message within the music and stay original...I respect these guys that's all. 8/10 more props goes for the originality and the good live sound not like other nu-bands that are computer based music, these guys at least can play and write music.
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27.07.2007 - 11:34
Sunioj

This album is pretty amazing and Kudos to the bassist of the band, hes always been my favorite part of the band...and what do you mean 1-8 isnt that good? Cradle, Death Blooms, Dig, and Internal Primates are some of the most amazing mudvayen songs...I agree, the end of all things to come was a dissapointment, and their newest album...ugh.
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02.03.2008 - 11:11
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
as always.. mudvayne does half album of very good songs.. and the other half with garbage... still i think this album deserves a better rate than the others.. agree with the review.. 8.0 its perfect
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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15.08.2008 - 19:53
Rating: 10
Dam3k

wtf is wrong with nu metal? in some aspects it's way more original than any other metal style...
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16.08.2009 - 11:01
Rating: 8
Paradox0
Unasuming Madnes
I alays liked how mudvayne seemed to distance themselves from other nu-metal acts by having a certain progressiveness to their songs which I think is often times overlooked by both "TR))" metal fans and "NU-b's". Death Blooms and Internal Primates Forever are some of my favourites, but each other track seems to have their own thing going for them. The album could have been a bit more dynamic I suppose though.
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12.12.2009 - 21:20
Rating: 9
Nergal

L.D. 50 is fantastic, all songs have something particular and original... It seems that Mudvayne lost their creativity with the latest works... Hope next album will be better (new song is very good!)
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03.11.2010 - 14:23
Kennoth

Yup, Mudvayne go a long way to prove their originality, from songs to music videos. Though be cautious, they're more of an alternative metal band in the vein of SOAD, instead of being Slipknot-uesqe nu-metal.

Also, I'm not sure if the first sentence calling some bands shit is appropriate for the start of a review.
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*insert something deep and profound*
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27.11.2012 - 23:56
Introspekrieg
Totemic Lust
A true oddity in the realm of nu metal... the only album that matters to me anymore from this genre. There are some truly bad moments, but they somehow only keep everything more honest through their inexperience (as said in the review). Ryan Martinie crosses dimensions with that bass playing and really makes this album what it is.
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29.12.2012 - 16:11
burnt-bridge

When i first got this album i wasn't expecting much, seeing as the band looked like another in the long line of slipknot/korn clones that infested metal during that period, but after repeated listens this album has really grown on me. right up there with soads first album as one of the best nu metal albums ever imo.
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29.12.2012 - 17:42
Rating: 6
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
I liked this when I was listening to radio...I've stopped listening to radio....
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rekt
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28.05.2015 - 05:56
chronic-headache

I'm not ashamed to like this album
Hell, Im wearing a mudvayne shirt here in 2015 only becuase L.D. 50 exists. L.D. 50 is the only good nu-metal album to exist. There were some pretty sick riffs on this album.
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