Review Summary: Genericore.
Motionless In White is a metalcore sextet from my hometown. I’ve been following them since their start in 2006. They put out an EP entitled The Whorror that was a very solid album full of aggressive, punk-like, screamy post-hardcore. They toured supporting that for a year, then released a VERY rough full-length independently, entitled When Love Met Destruction. After getting singed to Tragic Hero / Fearless records in late 2008, they decided to re-record and re-master six of the original eleven songs, and release it as an EP under the same name.
Destruction is, in all honesty, about as generic as it gets. 4 of the 6 songs start the same way, with no intro whatsoever, and those four songs are also almost exactly the same length. Every song follows the typical “Chug Part-Clean Part-Breakdown-Repeat” structure. What’s more is that the songs often end rather abruptly, quickly followed by the next, so that the album tends to blend together. The guitars are distorted to sound just like every other –core band out there. The drums are a suitable backbeat, but nothing more. The synth is much louder than needed, and if I hadn’t seen them live, I might have guessed there wasn’t a bass player.
Truth be told, you could probably tell this by just looking at them all. Frontman Chris Ceruli is pretty much the epitome of what “emo” has become, but to be fair, he’s dressed that way long before the trends. The other members, however, seem to be just clones of him. But judging a book by its cover is wrong, even if the book is nothing short of plagiarism of better authors.
While we’re on the topic of literature, let’s review the lyrics. I’m sure you can guess the content; broken hearts. However, they aren’t terrible. They stray from the path twice, referring to murder on “Destroy Everything”, talking about slaughtering a family because Chris hears voices. Despite the lyrics, this song probably stands out the most amongst the wave of same-ness. The clean break in the middle is a refreshing change, and the melodic group vocals are nicely done. The breakdown shows Chris yelling “Oh My God, what the F*ck have I done?”. Generic, yes, but it fits within context. The second time is on the god-awful “Whatever You Do…Don’t Press the Red Button”. This is by far one of the most generic songs I’ve ever heard. The lyrics are about Chris living in a horror movie and having a romance with a dead girl. While they are undeniably sickening, the line in the breakdown made me laugh: “I bet that I’ve f*cked more dead girls than you.”
What’s the biggest shame is that MIW have true talent. Demonstrated on basement demos and their first EP is their ability to genre-bend and write the prefect mix of sing along hooks and screaming verses. At times, the band looks past their “new” sound and creates a legitimately good section, making some songs listenable. The chorus to the single “Ghost in the Mirror” is undeniably catchy, and I find myself singing along. Album opener “To Keep From Getting Burned” has a well-written synth part after the first chorus, and “Billy In 4-C Never Saw It Coming” is almost a really good song, with fast paced drumming and deeper lyrics than previous tracks. The song is only ruined by the boring last half.
In summary, though, When Love Met Destruction is a pretty disposable album. Download it for cheap or stream it for the decent moments it has.
Pros:
Decent vocals and lyrics
Decent sections in select songs
Decent use of synth
Cons:
Too much chugging
It’s all been done before
Check Out:
Billy In 4-C Never Saw It Coming
Destroy Everything
