Like so many of the concerts we see, after the Mudvayne show I was thoroughly impressed, but not by the headliner, you expect they will sound great.  That’s not to say that Mudvayne wasn’t fierce,  indeed they were vicious beyond expectation.  But it was 10 Years that left a deep long lasting impression. 

This band out of Knoxville, has that multi-style sound; a little bit hard rock and metal mixed with punkish sensibilities all wrapped up in an angsty vocal package ala Aaron Lewis (7 years ago).  Critics commented that the promising 10 Years is a blend between Tool and Incubus, and clearly you can hear a bit of each in some of their early tracks.   Critics have also commented that 10 Years is pretty status quo and avoids advancing the style in new and different ways.   This may be true, but it surely makes for very listen-able radio friendly music.

10 Years

This 9 year old, (arguably) “alternative metal” band fronted by talented vocalist Jesse Hasek has the sonic quality, the hooky riffs, hard core attitude and cross-over appeal that should server them well on the charts.  To top it all off, they sounded “Beautiful” live.     The contrast between Jesse’s piercingly passionate voice and the live growling guitars riffs gave a raw highly-emotional element to their socio-concerned lyrics.

Playing many of their tracks from their latest release “Division” like “11:00am”, “Beautiful”, “Actions & Motives”, “Russian Roulette” and “Drug of Choice” alongside their first hit single “Wasteland” the band dutifully covered their harder more appealing creations and chose to leave out their many ballads.  Very prudent considering this eruptive, mosh-ready crowd.

Sonically, 10 Years left nothing behind. Their brutal pounding guitars tore through the metal hardened crowd who seemed appreciative. They easily sounded as good as the headliner.   HOB is probably one of the better Orlando venues acoustically, which is probably one of the reasons that opening bands we see here tend to live up to their talent.

Mudvayne

How many adjectives does it take to illustrate how completely ferocious this show was? One fellow metal head commented to me that even the Slipknot show wasn’t as brutal.   She too had to escape the  floor because of the sheer hysteria of the pit  utterly overflowing with unrelenting moshers.

Back were the monkey costume, blood smattered face and base ball bat as previously seen by front man  Chad Gray.    Their theatrical tendencies did not diminish the harshness and raw power of their musical performance.   Mudvayne literally exploded with opening track “Determined” and the crowd obliged with a riotous display of jumping and moshing.  This uproar continued undiminished for just about the entire 1 hour show as Mudvayne did not let up a bit.    I escaped the pit just about 5 songs in b.c I really didn’t wanna be bruised or stepped on to the point of not being able to skate.    

Popular tracks like “Happy?”, “Not Falling”, “Mercy, Severity” were met with an even more intense level of smashing and pushing, it was surreal.  This band truly commands a large contingent of very angry and emotionally charged young male fans.  The audience was comprised of well over 90% male, much higher than I have seen in any previous concert. 

Very noticeable in a live setting, were Mudvayne’s truly creative brand of music, so many of their tracks were filled with irregular timing and key changes and stop/start off-tempo riffs.   Chad’s mic was also turned up to full echo so whenever he stopped singing, his echo would fill the venue.  It was very fun to hear.  Listening to their albums, this band sounds incredibly more tame then they really are.  I guess this is the norm, as nothing truly captures the intensity of a band like a live setting.   Mudvayne was over the top in their viciousness which continues to lend to their appeal!!