(Originally published on FasterLouder)
I first saw Walk The Earth back in January, and in the time between then and now, nothing much has changed. They’re still really tight, they still get the people down the front moshing, and they still put a lot of energy into their performance, but there’s still something missing. For a band of their pedigree, I would expect more to justify the level of hype and praise I’ve seen them receive. Their music may be good pit fodder, but good, original song writing it sadly isn’t. The fact that they consistently get such high profile support slots leads me to believe that we need some more Australian metal bands of varied styles to fill this void. There is an audience out there for Walk The Earth, but I don’t believe the Mudvayne audience is it.
I first saw Mudvayne at Big Day Out back in 2001. At that time I really knew nothing about them, but had heard enough hype to pique my curiosity. I was really impressed. Impressed enough to buy their album L.D. 50 when it came out, and to buy all their consequent releases. In that time two big differences have struck between the Mudvayne live show I witnessed, and the bands recorded output. Firstly, singer Chad Gray’s voice is a lot stronger on recordings. Live, Gray screamed his way through a lot of the more melodic vocal parts I later discovered on the album. Secondly, the band seem to play slower in a live environment.
Fortunately, in the four years since, Mudvayne have fixed one of those issues. Tonight Gray’s voice seemed on top form, singing with no problems where required, while still putting full intensity behind his screaming voice. They’ve also ditched the stage makeup and costumes in that time. But the issue of speed still remains. For whatever reason, just about every song the band played tonight seemed slowed down, often irritably so. The slower speed suited certain moments, such as the quieter verses of -1, but without speeding up for the chorus, the full barrage of distortion and drums didn’t have quite the sense of release it could have.
The slower speed meant that the bands playing was impeccable, I don’t recall one wrong note from the performance, but unreleased tension leads to frustration. Without the speed, the music seemed to lose some of its urgency and passion. This seemed at odds with Gray’s statement that “every night I tell myself to pace it, pace it, but we’re only five song in and you mother-fuckers are killing me!” and the energy with which bassist Ryan Martinie propelled himself around stage.
That’s not to say they weren’t good. Tracks such as Death Blooms, Determined and World So Cold were all highlights, showing off the breadth of musicianship in this band, and causing a huge stir in the crowd. It was also good to see the band delve so deeply into all three of their albums as this is only their second visit Down Under. (It would have been nice to hear Severed as well, but that’s just a personal favourite). The usual lines about this being the best crowd they’ve ever played for were trotted out, along with a promise that it would not be so long before their next visit, but in this case Mudvayne did seeme strangely genuine. Especially when the pace finally picked up (but only a little) for highlights such as Nothing to Gein, Internal Primates Forever and the closing double of Not Falling and Dig. Having ended with their biggest singles, it was no surprise that the band didn’t come back for an encore, but the smiles on their faces, and celebratory post-set crowd surfs from all members (Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett also went for a surf during the closing numbers) provided a sense it may actually have been one of the most enjoyable shows they’d played for a while.
Hopefully in the time before we next see them (currently rumoured for a return to Big Day Out next year), Mudvayne pick up their speed, both in their travelling back here, and their on stage performance.
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