“Amplify or die, it’s us or them.“
Motionless in White is a band that I’ve held in high regard for at least a decade. 6 years ago I would have called them my favorite band ever, and though they no longer hold the crown in my head, I still love their music dearly. From Creatures to Disguise they’ve been consistently releasing solid records that have remained relevant in the ears of the scene. I’ll never forget the raw excitement I felt listening to Graveyard Shift for the first time, or how amped up I was when I heard Reincarnate for the first time. With those two albums being my favorite from the band, it leaves me wondering if they could ever top that? Given the amount of insane shit happening in the world during 2020 and 2021, I had a feeling the newest Motionless in White record would have to mirror the raw emotions many felt globally.
Before the newest album was announced, the band released two singles in the past two years. “Creatures X: To the Grave” was released in 2020, which was a phenomenal single release that recognized the 10th anniversary of their breakout record Creatures. The throwback sound to their roots was certainly pleasing, but that wouldn’t prevent them from experimenting with guitarist Ricky Horror laying down some fantastic main vocals during the choruses instead of vocalist Chris Motionless. It worked perfectly, and they knew that. “Timebomb” was released in 2021, and yet again another banger track that felt like an incredible throwback to early 2000s core. The trade off between Ricky singing the pre chorus and Chris opening up on the chorus made for perfect dynamics yet again. And finally, the news of the newest album Scoring the End of the World broke in March of 2022. Just where can this new record go sonically? How can they release the emotions built up over the last few hellish years?
Scoring the End of the World opens with the track “Meltdown“, and the first vocals of the new album is literally a blegh (oh shit its going down). Some interesting electronic instrumentation that gives me heavier “</c0de>” vibes, along with a traditionally massive MIW chorus, we’re off to a great start. It’s a fitting title to the opener that sets the tone of this new electronic atmosphere MIW has decided to implement (“Side effects are not allowed when they include our meltdown.”) The second track “Sign of Life” is another wonderful track, it doesn’t reinvent the wheelhouse in anyway, but showcases the band flexing their strength in heavy verse + huge chorus structure. Chris almost sounds exactly like Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin on the chorus, it works well and is an even bigger chorus than the one from “Meltdown” (“Wasting away in the dark is not an option, I’ll scratch my nails through this coffin.”) Both tracks are sure to be fun as fuck live.
The second I finished my first listen of “Werewolf” I was excited to write about it. Easily the most experimental song MIW have ever made, and holy fuck it works SO well. A true 80s sounding curveball track that makes me think of Carpenter Brut mixed with Michael Jackson, and the obvious callout to Rockwell‘s “Somebody’s Watching Me” from 1984 is a cute touch. “Werewolf” will definitely split the fanbase, as it is a true “love it or hate it” track. Being tied as my favorite chorus on the record, if they play this live, you can catch me in the crowd hitting those harmonies with pleasure (“I can be honest, I can be human, I can become the silver bullet in your hand.”) Kudos to you MIW, please make more tracks like this one in the future.
The record’s pacing slows up with “Porcelain“, that has a ballad-type feel to it. Chris is flexing his singing on this one, as every section is pumping with emotion, and it works beautifully (“I’ve broken my vows to reconcile. I shattered your heart and left a crack in your smile.”) Next up is the third single released for the album “Slaughterhouse (feat. Bryan Garris)“. The token super heavy track from MIW, a fun mean as fuck track that the Knocked Loose vocalist Bryan Garris works perfectly as a feature. Chris and Bryan bounce back and forth throughout the track beating your ass breakdown after breakdown. I love how unabashedly political the lyricism is, it’s perfect and fitting for how fucked we are (“In the land of the free you’re a slave to your wealth.”) The chorus on this track feels a bit unnecessary and forced given how heavy the track is, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless and I can’t wait to hear it live.
With “Masterpiece” as the follow up to “Slaughterhouse” it feels a bit jarring in terms of album pacing. From ballad, to insanely heavy, to ballad one can’t help but feel a bit of whiplash. Regardless, “Masterpiece” is a great track that almost feels like a sequel to “Another Life” from 2019’s Disguise. Yet again, another phenomenal chorus from MIW and one that I’d be in the crowd harmonizing with (“So how do I apologize, and put the tears back in your eyes. When every canvas that I paint is a masterpiece of my mistakes.“) Next up is “Cause of Death“, I’ll admit it didn’t strike me on the first listen and it was a the start of a 4-track long fatigue streak. The good thing is, the more I listened to the record, the more these tracks grew on me. Once “Cause of Death” grew on me, I realized just how good some of the instrumentation on this song is (“You found your life in my cause of death.“)
“We Become the Night” is a serious throwback to that Manson sound the band utilized on Infamous. Given how divisive the fanbase was on Infamous, that will probably be the deciding factor on whether or not you like this track. For me, I love this track, massive chorus and spooky verses that make up for good dynamics on the record. It provides a good break from the “heavy verse to huge chorus” structure the band does so well (“Take back your soul while we become the night.”) Just from the title, “Burned at Both Ends II” had intrigued me since the track list was announced. Though a sequel to “Burned at Both Ends” from Infamous, sonically it doesn’t sound like a sequel. Fortunately for “Burned at Both Ends II“, it’s so good it doesn’t really matter. “Burned at Both Ends II” is certainly a grower, as it didn’t scratch the itch after the first few listens, but it is now amongst my favorites. The lyricism is more on the positive end which is a good change of pace thematically (“At both ends burned once more, but now I live for something more.”)
I was a bit worried heading into “B.F.B.T.G. Corpse Nation“, as the first “Broadcasting From Beyond the Grave” track on Disguise turned out to be one of my least favorite tracks the band has ever made. Luckily, “B.F.B.T.G. BCorpse Nation” was a pleasant surprise sounding more cinematic, angry, and just overall better than its predecessor. Sonically, it sounds more like where they went with “Undead Ahead 2: Tale of the Midnight Ride” rather than the original BFBTG. Next up is “Cyberhex“, the leadoff single that was released alongside the announcement of Scoring the End of the World. A phenomenal track that I’d say encapsulates where they were going with this record, a great leadoff single. The chorus is huge, which isn’t surprising for MIW. What was more surprising for this track was the utilization of much more electronic elements than the band had really ever used before (“In this hell you are my paradise.”)
In the past few records MIW have released, they’ve always had at least one track that drags the entire record down. Onto the final two tracks of this new record, I thought they might have finally stopped doing that. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. “Red, White, and Boom (feat. Caleb Shomo)” is really fucking bad. Really corny guitar riffs, alongside an entirely gang vocal-like chorus, and a boring feature sporting the callout “1-2 fuck you” it doesn’t really get worse than this. This is the worst song MIW have made. I’m sure it was probably fun as hell to make, but some songs are better off being an inside joke amongst the band members rather than being put out on the record.
Despite the shortcomings of the previous track, the title track “Scoring the End of the World (feat. Mick Gordon)” refreshes the pallet as a glorious closing track. This track is probably the most massive song Motionless in White have ever made, and the chorus is fucking incredible. It feels like I’m going to war with no weapons and defying the overwhelming odds. I can’t think of a better song on this record for the legendary Mick Gordon to be featuring on. Definitely one of my favorite tracks the band has ever made (“Amplify or die, it’s us or them.“)
After listening to Scoring the End of the World, it turns out to be one of Motionless in White‘s best records. I don’t think any fan will like every track, but there are plenty of very satisfying tracks to please every pair of ears. Scoring the End of the World is a dynamic record that expertly utilizes Motionless in White‘s strengths without compromising on fresh experimentation and top-notch quality production.
8.5/10
Scoring the End of the World by Motionless in White is out June 10th, via Roadrunner Records. To preorder/stream click here.