The band sees the album as a return to the raw sound heard on "L.D. 50", with guitarist Greg Tribbett saying in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine "Instead of being all slick, we're definitely going for a raw sound on this record. The last one was pretty smooth and the first record, L.D. 50, was raw, so we're kind of mixing it up a little bit." Matthew McDonough said he believed the music on the album would reflect a refinement of Mudvayne's complexly structured hard rock balanced against more melody than any previous album. Bassist Ryan Martinie added "Our goal for the third album is to make music that pleases us because if it makes us happy then the rest will take care of itself."