Mudvayne is ready to unleash a celebration of their breakthrough album, L.D. 50, by touring across the country beginning this week. But first, Chad Gray Checks In with us to talk about the major milestone, the band's first new music in 16 years, and more.
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In addition to a quarter-century of punishing grooves on L.D. 50, Mudvayne recently unwrapped the first new music from the band in 16 years. "This was the reason why I came back to Mudvayne, was to continue the legacy," admits Gray. "We went away before people were ready for us to go away, I think. So when we came back, that was my biggest reason for coming back, was to pick up where we left off and continue to create music, and give our fans what they need, what we didn't give them."
"We tried this a couple years ago and it just didn't work. Then we got back in and we got back to it, and we went back and picked through some of those old parts and we're able to put these tracks together, and then, we went in the process of recording," adds Chad. "It was really cool, but it's a very necessary time. I think we came back and the ground was seriously rumbling. Like the ground was shaking. It was like, 'holy hell,' people are really excited about this."
After their return a few years ago, Gray and Mudvayne knew it was time to take the next step and get back into the studio to build on what they've already created. "I wanna keep people excited about this. I don't just wanna come back, blow our wad and then just f***ing slowly drift off, you know what I mean? Like, no. I wanna come in with a bang, I wanna go out with a bang."
In addition to their debut, L.D. 50, sending shockwaves through the world of Rock, another reason for Mudvayne's success has to be their spotlight on Ozzy Osbourne's traveling Ozzfest. "His contribution to music we could never pay back," Gray says of Ozzy and his summer spectacle.
"Just the inspirations he created from what he did is unprecedented, and then you gotta think about, he broke Metallica. Straight up. He took them on the road with him. He put Metallica on an Ozzy-sized stage on 'Master Of Puppets' and dude, from that moment on it was game over, right?"
"So what does he do? He continues, now he creates a festival where it's not just one band or two bands that he can help, now it's a gaggle of bands every single year," he says of Ozzfest. "We were on that 2nd stage. System of a Down was on the 2nd stage. Slipknot was on the 2nd stage. I mean, just go down the list."
Hear more from Chad on his past projects, what to expect on Mudvayne's anniversary tour, and more during our Audacy Check In above.