ALBUM REVIEW: Graveyard Shift – Motionless In White
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE have been building up their status as the next big horror band since their first release in 2010. Seven years since the release of Creatures comes the bands fourth studio album, Graveyard Shift. Already the album has divided fans, some wanting them to return to the sound of their beginnings and others enjoying the direction that 2014’s Reincarnate took them.
Rats opens up the album with strength, it’s got what makes MOTIONLESS IN WHITE who they are as a band; industrial synths, a catchy chorus and a dose of creepiness. It’s a hypnotic sound and it certainly mixes both Creatures with Reincarnate, hopefully giving fans from both sides something to be satisfied with.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean it will make the rest as strong, even by the second track Queen For Queen it tends to slip. It’s still catchy but it’s not a song that stands out and sticks with you after it’s ended. It’s got better contenders and that’s where Graveyard Shift is fortunate because with songs like Queen For Queen it doesn’t do justice to what the band are actually capable of doing.
One of the least memorable tracks on the album is Necessary Evil feat. Jonathan Davis (KORN), Chris Motionless and Davis work together brilliantly with their voices bouncing off one another, almost mirroring. The problem is that them working together is probably the only good thing about the track. The chorus really drags the potential for this track down with lyrics such as “It’s my party and I’ll die when I want to” expressed almost in a spoilt child manner. The opportunity to work with Jonathan Davis and create something out of this world was right there for them but it feels totally wasted and it’s a shame because something incredible could have come out of this.
When you hit tracks such as The Ladder though the album takes the strong turn once more. It’s one of the heaviest on the album and it almost takes a full return to what MOTIONLESS IN WHITE started out as. It does have the horror, gothic feel to it and it isn’t trying to sound radio friendly like a lot of the other songs on the album sound like. The Ladder adds a bit of flavour to Graveyard Shift, and it wasn’t for songs like this then this wouldn’t be a memorable album for the band at all.
570 is another excellent addition to Graveyard Shift, being another of the heaviest on the album. It’s got such a punch behind it and it has genuine attitude to it, that’s the formula to a fantastic MOTIONLESS IN WHITE song and it really stands out and shows off what they can do. It’s a shame that there aren’t many other tracks on the album like this that do that, all of the others feel too soft to be the horror band that we have grown to know and get accustomed to. Most of the album feels like it is trying to win at being on the radio and that’s a shame because regardless on if that is the reason or not, it feels like a big chunk of what MOTIONLESS IN WHITE are about is missing.
It’s a crying shame that the efforts of them haven’t played out to creating a whole strong album. There are too many inconsistencies from how heavy it’s going, the style, the lyrical content, if the album is their incredible attitude or on being catchy. It’s almost like the band has tried too hard to please other people and that isn’t what MOTIONLESS IN WHITE is about.
Rating: 4/10
Graveyard Shift is out now via Roadrunner Records.
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