Band : Mudvayne
Album Title : The New Game
Label : Epic/SonyBMG
Distribution : Sony
Release date : December 2008
Review : CD

“The New Game” is the fourth studio album of the NU metal band Mudvayne.
The quartet was formed in Illinois in 1996 and earned quite some success with the albums “L.D.50” (2000) and “Lost And Found” (2005).
As a result, Mudvayne already sold three million albums worldwide.
“The New Game”  comes three years after the previous studio album, Lost And Found” and is the follow-up for the compilation “By The People, For The People” (2007) that contains a track listing chosen by the band’s fans.
In those three years, singer Chad Gray and guitar player Greg Tribbett participated in the side-project Hellyeah, together with drummer Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan), guitar player Tom Maxwell (Nothingface) and bass player Bob Zilla  (Damageplan).
And now there’s the comeback of Mudvayne.
But in my honest opinion, I must say that “The New Game” doesn’t impress me like some of the previous Mudvayne albums. I simply don’t find this new material the greatest songs the foursome ever wrote and composed. Even though there are some great hooks to be found, the technical metal style that made Mudvayne famous is far less recognizable. Maybe Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett got distracted by the success of the side-project Hellyeah…
“The New Game” contains 11 songs and has a playing time of 44 minutes.
Highlights are the opening track "Fish Out Of Water", the first single “Do What You Do”, "Have It Your Way", “Dull Boy” and “Never Enough”.
There are strong rumors that Mudvayne will already release a new full-length album in 2009.

60/100

Erik.