Kingcrimsonprog
The End of All Things to Come has been one of my favourite records since the day I bought it back in 2002. Eight years later this excellent record still stands up, it has aged a lot better than the vast majority of music from 2002 and still sounds fresh and vital today.
Opener ‘Silenced,’ is the quintessential Mudvayne song, mixing heavy, Pantera influenced groove metal with unusual patterns and complex bass guitar work.
Songs like ‘(Per)Version of the Truth,’ and ‘Skrying,’ retain everything that made LD. 50 great but are more focused and direct, never unnecessarily complicated for the sake of it, but still packed full of interesting ideas and unique riffs. The great thing about The End of All Things to Come is how it balanced the band’s technical and progressive leanings, commercial aspirations and metal foundations perfectly. No other Mudvayne album got the balance just right, but on this album you get songs that seem at first listen to be chunky, heavy and groove based metal and on repeat listens reveal hidden depths. No point on the album sacrifices the metal edge for the sake of complexity and no melodic section seems out of place or overtly commercial, just a chance for Chad Grey to exercise his improved singing.
This album contains the singles ‘Not Falling,’ and ‘World So Cold,’ which just happen to be two of the best songs the band have ever written, where the band’s commercial leanings pay off hugely and rather than watering down the album or compromising the tone of the album, they fit perfectly and add greatly to the already excellent album. Other highlights include the phenomenal ‘Mercy Severity,’ and the heavy and impressive title track.
Lyrically, this has to be the finest Mudvayne album, largely abandoning the swear filled angsty lyrics of LD.50, that albums only draw back and replacing them with interesting and well written lyrics on a range of subjects including Hindu and Budhist philosophies.
The production job on this album, courtesy of David Bottrill is also fantastic and sounds a lot better than the majority of the band’s other work. The tom sound is perfect, the band’s unusual for metal bass guitar style is captured really well, the guitar tone is superb and the mix couldn’t be better. I honestly think this might be the best produced album of the last ten years.
Overall, it has to be said that The End of All Things to Come is both an amazing album, and arguably the best thing the band have ever released. I highly recommend anyone with even a passing interest in Mudvayne give this album a serious listen.