ALBUM REVIEW: Motionless In White- REINCARNATE

Date: October 10, 2014

Motionless in White- Reincarnate

Motionless in White has been through some interesting phases the last few years. The band released their debut album, Creatures, in 2010 and were considered a post-hardcore/metalcore band fitting in perfectly on the Vans Warped Tour playing what fans called "horrorcore" because of the spooky lyrical content. The band threw everyone a curveball when in 2012 they released their sophomore album, Infamous, which ditched their post-hardcore sound for a mixture of heavy metalcore and an industrial vibe very similar to Marilyn Manson. This created a big controversy considering people were upset that the band changed so significantly. Front man Chris Motionless even began to adopt a Marilyn Manson-esque appearance. Motionless told people that the band wanted to be sincere and that they were no longer into the music they were putting out early in their career. After maturing a few years the band has released their third album, Reincarnate. There are many different sounds and directions the band goes in but yet they all work.

The album features the signature assets of the band but brings in new elements as well. It's hard to accurately categorize this album into a specific genre because it contains such a wide variety of sounds. Everything from metalcore, nu metal, industrial, trance, and even alternative radio rock can be heard throughout Reincarnate. I am really surprised by how the band was able to intertwine so many different genres but yet they all fit together. The album, released by Fearless Records, was produced by Dan Korneff (Breaking Benjamin, Paramore) which contributes to the new sound. Another major influence on this album is Tim Skold (ex-member of Marilyn Manson) who produced and helped col-write the band's Infamous album. Skold's contribution to Reincarnate includes co-writing six tracks and having a vocal feature on the track "Final Dictvm." It's evident that both Korneff and Skold had a major role in developing Motionless in White's sound on this record.

The most interesting feature of this album to point out is the alternative rock radio choruses that are in numerous songs. It's as if Breaking Benjamin or Three Days Grace were writing some of the choruses for Motionless. There is no doubt that Korneff helped Motionless in this area. Surprisingly it fit well in many songs including "Contemptress" "Break the Cycle" and "Reincarnate" to name a few. "Everybody Sells Cocaine" has one of the most if not catchiest choruses on the album followed by a gang chant of "do it!" which will most likely be a crowd favorite to chant along to. The transition from in your face brutal screaming into a big melodic catchy chorus works very effectively. I give the band props for doing something they normally don't do and pulling it off.

The industrial and trance elements which the band has used previously are prevalent on the record and give the band their signature sound. The keyboardist, Josh Balz, did a great job laying down great synth parts on tracks "Dark Passenger" "Generation Lost" and "Everybody Sells Cocaine" to name a few. A lot of the songs have heavy industrial beats carrying on throughout the songs giving the album a very Nine Inch Nails/Rammestein/Marilyn Manson vibe. The most industrial sounding would be "Final Dictvm" which appropriately features Skold. The track opens with an awesome trance intro and builds into an upbeat industrial groove with one of my favorite synth lines played at several parts in the song. A few tracks such as the seven minute pseudo-ballad "Wasp" and the track "Dead as F***" feature an almost completely electronic beat as well which could have something to do with the band's lack of an official drummer.

The band lost their original drummer after the release of Infamous and the band has gone through a few replacements since then. A friend of the band, Tom Hane, recorded the drum tracks for this release and put a nice little touch on the album. Most of the tracks contain a straightforward four on the floor stomp throughout bringing Rob Zombie to mind. The entire album features very heavy grooves which is a strength of the band. The breakdowns on Reincarnate are some of the most brutal breakdowns of their career. The breakdown in the song "Dark Passenger" sticks out as one of my favorites because of the cool high atmospheric guitar that contrasts the low chugging groove made by the other guitars. This reminded me of Chelsea Grin's song "Clockwork" a little bit.

Chris Motionless said that he is a big fan of songs that tell a story and he did write some really great haunting stories for this record. He talks about everything from how he and the band is viewed, women, temptation, and his views on religion. He uses very dark imagery and continues to use horror themes throughout his songs. His lyrics are well composed and it's interesting to listen to what Motionless has to say. One of my favorite lines comes from "Generation Lost" when he sings, "Because I still can't fill my pockets with my name on your shirt," bringing up that the music industry does not make you rich and that he does this because he loves it. There are a few lyrics that I can't help but chuckle a bit like in the title track when he screams, "You give a f***ing aspirin a headache." It was interesting to hear the lyric, "We only come out at night," in the song "Generation Lost" which is also the song title of one the band's songs on their debut album. He also continues to put in chants in his songs where he spells out words over and over drilling them into your head. The band chants D-R-U-G-S over and over in "Everybody Sells Cocaine" and D-E-A-D in the song "Dead as F***."

Motionless's vocal performance is another thing that I enjoy. He uses many different vocal techniques that bring different tones to each song. Many of the songs feature whisper-like vocals in the verses with occasional distortion effects. A lot of people criticize the band saying they are using this vocal technique to sound more like Marilyn Manson but no matter what it works for Motionless. His clean signing on the choruses is perfect and he really creates a catchy melody on many of them. His screams are brutal on this album and may be some of his most brutal yet. He takes the breakdowns on this album that are already extremely heavy to a whole other level with his screams. He also does an interesting rap part on the song "Generation Lost" which sounds like something from an old Linkin Park song which was completely unexpected. "Generation Lost" contains many different vocal styles and is a big track on the album sounding very anthemic throughout.

Motionless had a few guest vocalists on this album to add a different vocal tone that really enhanced a lot of these tracks. As mentioned Skold contributed some vocals but there a few others some of which I originally was confused as to how it would go but I was impressed by all of the features. In This Moment vocalist Maria Brink crooned her way through her verse in "Contemptress" before ending with a manic scream. Dessa Poljak of Silencio added haunting background vocals to the already creepy track "Wasp" which fit perfectly. The most interesting feature was Cradle of Filth front man Dani Filth on "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)." Filth delivered his screechy extreme metal-esque vocals over an instrumental composition that sounded like something his band would play, showing that Motionless in White is willing to try new things. The song switched between Filth's extreme metal style and Motionless's metalcore style perfectly and I was very amazed by how well it worked out.

Motionless also recorded an acoustic song as a bonus track for the digital version of the album which was something they hadn't done before. Skold played acoustic guitar while Motionless sang "Sinematic" which was one of the tracks off of Infamous. The song was nothing special and those who bought the physical copy that doesn't contain the song are not missing out.

Reincarnate is a great combination of many different sounds and a great direction for the band. They have put together what works for them as well as bringing in new elements that have added to the band's style. This is by far the band's catchiest release and contains some of their best songs. Motionless in White have truly reincarnated themselves on this album and it works perfectly.

Please note that all review opinions are the opinions of the writer's alone. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of those at WSOU 89.5 FM, Seton Hall University, or any of its affiliates.

Posted in: WSOU Exclusive, Album Review