For just over a decade now, Motionless In White have displayed its dark edgy music. With their latest in their discography, Disguise embarking on more accessible sounds similar to the likes of Breaking Benjamin, would the band continue on this trajectory or fall back in line with their previously cemented sound they’d cultivated up to that point?

The answer in the case of their latest endeavor, Scoring The End of The World (Roadrunner Records) shows the band eating the cake and having it too.

There’s no hesitation in bringing on their sounds in opener, ‘Meltdown’. That iconic “Blegh!” rings through as glitchy tones and chunky guitar riffs build together similar to how other metalcore bands in their field have interpolated nu-metal sounds into the mix. There’s a similarity in this track to some of the works of Bring Me The Horizon‘s latest efforts in Post Human: Survival Horror. Managing to create something edgy and dark, while still retaining a catchy, bouncy note throughout the choruses.

This album brings three outside voices into the studio in the forms of Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose, Caleb Shomo of Beartooth & none other than Doom‘s Mick Gordon. Each of the guest artists bringing something new to the Motionless in White sound. None of these makes more of an impact than Garris who tears the track ‘Slaughterhouse’ apart with his savage vocals. Chris Motionless is more than able to keep up with Garris and matches his raw energy with high intensity screams thus creating one of the bands heavier tracks in recent years.

Tracks like ‘Masterpiece’ and ‘Porcelain’, however, act as an antithesis to the aforementioned song, bringing a gloomier, slower pace to the album. Less screaming, more crooning from Motionless, taking inspiration from Benjamin Burley of Breaking Benjamin’s cadence and melodic choruses. In fact, ‘Masterpiece’ may be the closest we’re getting to a ballad from the band.

Scoring The End of The World shows Motionless in White performing a balancing act, one one side is the more accessible, stadium rock songs that fans have grown to love in songs like ‘Another Life’ and on the other side is the rawer, more harsh side that their earlier material reflects.

To most bands this would be an impossible endeavour, being lopsided either way or failing to do either well. In this band’s methods, they have made a noble effort and for the most part succeeded, creating some incredible heavy pieces while at the same time, almost ballad-like performances and the only issues that arise from this is that the sudden shifts in tone can create a musical whiplash, something that can easily be rectified with albums to come down the line.

Buy the album here: https://motionlessinwhite.lnk.to/STEOTW

 

7 / 10

CHARLIE HILL