History of MuDvAyNe
There's reason to be afraid. There's very good reason indeed, if you're someone who likes their music unchallenging, simple, and easy to define and digest. But if you want something dark, mysterious, savage, and unsettling, something that will force you to confront the unknown and possibly alter the way you look at the world, then prepare yourself for MuDvAyNe.
It's no coincidence that the opening track on MuDvAyNe's stunningly heavy debut album, L.D. 50, is titled "Monolith," after the brooding alien artifact at the heart of Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"The overall theme of the album reflects and embodies ideas about the evolution of consciousness, transformation, and the risks involved in experimenting with things that can change a person's point of view, internally and externally," says drummer Spag. "And the monolith in Kubrick's film was also a representation of that."
Like that cryptic black object, MuDvAyNe keep their secrets well-even their faces are hidden in hallucinatory colors and symbols-but make no bones about their desire to fuck with your head. Taking the intensity of the new school of heavy rock one step further, MuDvAyNe has left a long trail of shattered preconceptions and blown minds in their wake. Next victims: the world at large.
"L.D. 50 is a medical term used by pharmacologists to measure how toxic a substance is," explains spag about the album's enigmatic title. "It stands for Lethal Dosage 50, which represents how much of a chemical it takes to kill fifty out of a hundred test subjects."
"The metaphor is that the things that can potentially open your mind, expand your consciousness, and show you a new vision of yourself and the world also have a risk involved in them and a consequence. It's about how far you can push the envelope before it gets dangerous, which is a way we'd like to see our work perceived as well."
spag and his cohorts have been pushing the envelope for four-and-a-half years, ever since MuDvAyNe first conspired together in the forbidding wastelands of Peoria, Illinois, circa 1996. spag, Kud, and Gurrg, with a different bass player (Ryknow came aboard two years later), found each other after ten years in the usual maze of local outfits, immediately sharing a vision of their own musical apocalypse Mudvayne was originally Chad Gray, Matt McDonaugh, Greg Tribett, and Shawn Barclay. Their pre-Mudvayne band was known as BrainSaw. Mudvayne was Shawn and Matt's brainchild. But due to other reasons, Shawn later left the band, and the remaining members recruited Ryan Martinie from the progressive rock band Broken Altar. Shawn is the original bassist who plays on Kill, I Oughta. If you want to check out Shawn's new band, Sprung
(THANX TO http://www.cu2.nl/mudvayne-fan-2 for this bio)
Mudvayne was originally Chad Gray, Matt McDonaugh, Greg Tribett, and Shawn Barclay. Their pre-Mudvayne band was known as BrainSaw. Mudvayne was Shawn and Matt's brainchild. But due to other reasons, Shawn later left the band, and the remaining members recruited Ryan Martinie from the progressive rock band Broken Altar. Shawn is the original bassist who plays on Kill, I Oughta
