Now I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not the most hardcore person about... well, hard(er) core music. I have my preferences, and I'm quite a poppy person. And the stuff that's more on the metal side that I listen to, I'm quite particular about. So when I got a copy of Mudvayne's new self titled album in the mail to review, I was a little nervous. But I've sat down and listened to the album a few times now (in fact, I'm listening to it right now), and found it fairly enjoyable.

The CD opens with the track "Beautiful and Strange", which builds slowly for the minute or so, before jumping into a fast, pounding drum beat that definitely gave me a good first impression. The song slows down a bit to a steady head banging beat. The vocals in the verses aren't my favourite, but the chorus is absolutely perfect for me.

It goes into "1000 Mile Journey" which, again, starts off fast, and slows down to a good, steady pace. When the song started, I was hoping that it was going to keep the sound that the intro had (something that I noticed a few times with the CD), but that isn't really a bad thing.

The next song, "Scream with Me", as well as a few that are later on in the CD, "Beyond the Pale", "All Talk", and "Out to Pasture", are fairly slow paced. They're mellower and I definitely just sat back and chilled out when I listened to them. It was a nice change up to the faster, harder pace of the CD. But just because they're slower, it doesn't mean they're any less intense. "All Talk" is one of my favourite tracks of the album. I just put it on and did some work and bobbed my head and hummed along. It has a nice bit of edge to it in the chorus, and the difference between that and the verses stops you from getting to used to the sound and keeps you from getting bored.

Songs like "Closer". "Heard it All Before", and "I Can't Wait" are fast driving songs that hit you right away. You're either going to like the sound or you're not. It's fast and hard and I got right into it. The instrumentation is a bit simpler in some of these, but that doesn't take away from it. You put them on, get the feel for it, and just rock out in your chair. I like complicated sounds, but sometimes just having something simpler and hard is all you need, and these few songs are perfect for that.

"Burn the Bridge" is slower paced and heavy during the verses, and faster and catchier during the choruses. The heaviness and variation of speed in it is a good song to put right before the albums closing song, "Dead Inside". This song is slow all the way through, with mostly just an acoustic guitar and vocals. It's completely different from everything else on the album, and I quite enjoy. It seems a little bit out of place, but it's surprising to hear after you've gone through the rest of the album. You have to listened to the song a few times to truly appreciate it, but the vocals carry the emotion of the song beautifully, making it a fantastic closer to the album.

So, do I listen to bands like Mudvayne that often? No, but that didn't really matter with this album. I truly enjoyed sitting down and listening to it. It was a little hard for me to describe a lot of it, yes, but what it comes down to is, even if this isn't your particular genre, you should still check out some of these songs. "Dead Inside", specifically.

But I would just recommend picking up the entire CD and giving it a shot! I was definitely pleasantly surprised!.

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