If you’ve recently streamed Mudvayne‘s pair of 2025 comeback singles on the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and other digital service providers recently, you may have noticed some not so subtle changes. The gold-certified nü-metal stars appear to have have stealth uploaded newly re-mixed and remastered versions of those songs, “Sticks And Stones” and “Hurt People Hurt People“, on several streaming platforms.
Those two tracks represented the first new material from the band in 16 years, arriving in August and September of last year respectively. Both tracks were met with criticism over their mix/mastering, to the point that a certain section of fans believed they were in fact demo recordings. However, that assumption has since been shot down.
The original mixes released for those tracks were done by Josh Wilbur, a celebrated producer/mixer with a catalog that includes Lamb Of God, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and more. However, the new mixes recently uploaded with little fanfare from the band’s camp were overseen by Dave Fortman.
The latter previously worked with Mudvayne on “Lost And Found” and “The New Game” and has also worked with Evanescence, Slipknot and more. In a post being attributed to Fortman on Reddit today, January 17th, the following was said about the situation:
“The original mixes weren’t demos. They were mixed by Josh Wibur but the band wasn’t happy with the results and the fans were unhappy as well according to feedback I got from their management. They called me to remix them so I took the same approach that I mixed ‘Lost And Found‘ with. Seems to have worked! Glad you guys are digging it. I threw an entirely different spin on the intro and break of ‘Sticks And Stones‘ with added piano notes and strings. Nothing has been rerecorded thats just me laying some ‘tickles’ in there. Enjoy!”
While the updated audio doesn’t appear to have been made available via the YouTube uploads (compare below), the new mixes can be streamed below. Mudvayne themselves indirectly touched upon the matter themselves, revealing that the decision to have the tracks re-mixed seems to have led to the delay of their 7″ release of the songs. That recent update read:
“Thank you for ordering the Sticks & Stone/Hurt People Hurt People 7″ vinyl. We understand how much you are looking forward to getting yours and have an update on its status.
Due to our desire to make the audio perfect, mastering took longer than planned. In addition, an unanticipated production delay in the vinyl world means the new delivery date is early April 2026.
If you want to keep your order, no action is needed. You will get an email once it ships. To cancel, please contact our customer service team for help.
Thanks for your support”