History Music / LD50

* HarshVocals: Chad and Greg both scream, roar and {{g|utturalGrowler}}rowl at various points.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Softer songs a 5-6; most songs a 8-9.

** [[{{Mondegreen}} Ice cream! In my face!]]

* SignatureSong: "Dig"
* TearJerker: "Death Blooms" was inspired by the last years of Chad's grandmother's life and how it seemed that no one cared as she withered away.

* ProgressiveMetal: Tribbett at one point got so tired of answering questions about the band's style that he jokingly said "It's math metal. Bring your abacus." Unfortunately, people jumped on the 'math metal' thing, to his irritation.

* ShoutOut:
** One of the songs on ''L.D. 50'' was titled "Monolith". This and "Internal Primates Forever" are references to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.

* ConceptAlbum: The album's title derives from the technical term 'Median lethal dose', abbreviated LD50, used by toxicologists to refer to the dose required to kill half (50 percent of) the members of a tested population. All of the tracks are conceptually tied to the idea of human evolution. Through {{Sampling}} of the voice of philosopher Terence Mckenna, who discusses his idea that human beings have a symbiotic relationship to psychedelic mushrooms, and that ingesting such was the catalyst of apes to evolve into humans. The themes of the individual songs, including drug addiction ("Internal Primates Forever", "Pharmaecopia"), murder ("Dig", "Nothing to Gein" and "Under My Skin") and esoteric development ("[k]now F[orever]") combine to create an overall connecting lyrical theme of human evolution, development and destruction, which continues on into the lyrics of ''Music/TheEndOfAllThingsToCome'',

* ArcNumber: During the songwriting process, the band members paired riffs with lyrics based on what Matthew Mcdonough referred to as "number symbolism". According to Mcdonough, while he and Chad Gray wrote the lyrics to "Nothing to Gein", Greg Tribbett performed a riff which alternated in bars of 4 and 5. Because the number 9 is a lunar number, Mcdonough felt that the riff would fit the song's lyrics, which referred to serial killer and grave robber Ed Gein, whose actions McDonough associated with nighttime activity.

** One of the songs on ''L.D. 50'' was titled "Monolith". This and "Eternal Primates Forever" are references to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.

In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD₅₀, LC₅₀ or LCt₅₀ is a measure of the lethal dose of a toxin, radiation, or pathogen. The value of LD₅₀ for a substance is the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population after a specified test duration.

* ArcNumber: During the songwriting process, the band members paired riffs with lyrics based on what Matthew McDonough referred to as "number symbolism". According to McDonough, while he and Chad Gray wrote the lyrics to "Nothing to Gein", Greg Tribbett performed a riff which alternated in bars of 4 and 5. Because the number 9 is a lunar number, McDonough felt that the riff would fit the song's lyrics, which referred to serial killer and grave robber Ed Gein, whose actions McDonough associated with nighttime activity.

* ConceptAlbum: The album's title derives from the technical term 'Median lethal dose', abbreviated LD50, used by toxicologists to refer to the dose required to kill half (50 percent of) the members of a tested population. All of the tracks are conceptually tied to the idea of human evolution. Through {{Sampling}} of the voice of philosopher Terence McKenna, who discusses his idea that human beings have a symbiotic relationship to psychedelic mushrooms, and that ingesting such was the catalyst of apes to evolve into humans. The themes of the individual songs, including drug addiction ("Internal Primates Forever", "Pharmaecopia"), murder ("Dig", "Nothing to Gein" and "Under My Skin") and esoteric development ("[k]now F[orever]") combine to create an overall connecting lyrical theme of human evolution, development and destruction, which continues on into the lyrics of ''Music/TheEndOfAllThingsToCome'',

* MurderBallad: "Nothing To Gein", about SerialKiller Ed Gein. Gein's story grabbed the attention of McDonough and Gray as they were leafing through a book on murderers and true crime. Regarding Gein, McDonough commented, "It seemed so impossible [for Gein] to bridge the gap into mainstream society. I found that exciting that I could find humanity in him".

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Softer songs a 5-6; most songs a 8-9. They manage a soft 10 with "Determined", pretty impressive for a band sometimes considered nu metal.