Moribund metal music

Back when I was a freshman in high school, Mudvayne and I had a rocky start. I can remember listening to L.D. 50 and thinking it was boring and uninspired. I gave them a second chance, taking the advice of a friend who said to listen more closely to the music, and somehow it all clicked. Mudvayne was all about the mathematics. Sure, they were nowhere near powerhouses like the Dillinger Escape Plan or Sweden's Meshuggah, but Mudvayne had one hell of a structure to its songs. When Mudvayne's third release The End of All Things to Come dropped, I saw my jaw dropping at how amazing the songwriting had become. Now Mudvayne and I are about to part ways once again.\nLost and Found, Mudvayne's fourth release and follow-up to 2002's The End of All Things to Come, is practically devoid of all the things that made previous albums so interesting. Almost every track is radio-friendly trite; essentially there is never a heavy moment other than a riff or two here and there. A large majority of the songs meander about and become repetitive where math metal is everything but repetitive. It's all about spiraling riffs and sporadic song structures -- both of which Mudvayne is now seriously lacking.\nNot every song on Lost and Found is a complete waste. Opener "Determined" is quite brutal, but don't expect the rest of the album to live up to the heaviness. "Forget to Remember" and "Just" show that bassist Ryan Martinie can still play some amazing basslines while drummer Matt McDonough hammers away at the skins with pure precision. "Fall into Sleep" is akin to "World So Cold" from Mudvayne's previous release in that the song slowly drifts from calm verses to pummeling choruses and just plain rocks.\nThe rest of the songs, however, are quite disappointing. "Rain. Sun. Gone." leads you to believe that Mudvayne is attempting melodic metalcore in the vein of Shadows Fall or Killswitch Engage but said attempt fails miserably considering the song goes nowhere. "Choices" opens up with an amazing mathematical rhythm that gets spoiled once the music begins droning and you get creepy choruses featuring alien children chanting "eenie meanie miney mo" which is 8 minutes of worthlessness. And the album's first single "Happy?" is nothing but nu-metal bullshit aimed at the angst-ridden teenage masses of today. \nWhile Mudvayne quit wearing the stupid masks and face paint long ago (maybe someday Slipknot will follow suit), there is still immaturity in this kind of music. I can understand releasing one or two tracks to get on the radio but this is just nonsense. Lost and Found almost taints Mudvayne's previous releases because I honestly cannot imagine where they were trying to go musically other than the mainstream. Go pick up L.D. 50 and listen to "Death Blooms." I assure that one song puts all of Lost and Found to shame.