Graveyard Shift - Working Overtime

Motionless In White- Graveyard Shift

Released May 5, 2017

Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, Ryan Sitkowski, Ricky Olson, Devin Sola, Josh Balz

Genre: Metalcore, Industrial metal

Intro

Well I forgot to do a review last week so I'm canceling the Knocked Loose one for now and doing an album that I know very well. So with that here we are with one of my personal favorite metalcore albums by one of my favorite bands in general. Enough ranting though I've already wasted enough time so lets get into this one.

Thoughts & Feelings

This album makes me feel like I'm at the single greatest Halloween party ever thrown. The songs here are fun but dark and fucked up at the same time, and are just a perfect example of horror being mixed into heavy music. However this bands use of horror is completely different than bands like Ice Nine Kills as instead of retelling famous horror stories in the songs, Motionless just writes creepy songs. With that out of the way lets get into the songs.

Smash or Pass?

Rats- SSSSSSSSMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH. THIS SONG IS SO FUCKING GOOD IT HURTS. This is my second favorite MIW song of all time, behind only Scoring the End of the World. This song has such a unique sound and mood behind it with the creepy and just off feeling that this band does so well. The vocal tone on this song really pushes its themes perfectly and adds so much to an already great song. First song on the album to receive the "must fucking listen" designation.

Queen For Queen- SSMMMAAASSSHHH. BACK TO BACK BANGERS. This one is amazing but not nearly as good as Rats, a theme that will be more apparent as the album goes on. Again with this one the song is incredible and the vocals do an amazing job of conveying a mood of uneasiness with the song. Another great song to open the album.

Necessary Evil- SMASH. This song is pretty overrated. Yes the Jonathan Davis feature is cool but this song is just lacking in too many elements for me to really enjoy. Because of that this song is the first one so far on this album that is not on my personal playlist. Again, far from bad just not amazing.

Soft- SSSMMMMAAAASSSHHHH. AND WE PICKED RIGHT UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF BEFORE THE LAST ONE. This song is another absolute banger, as expected from this album by this point. The vocal delivery is incredible and the instrumental on this one is absolutely perfect. Great pick up after the last one.

Untouchable- SMASH. Another bop, again just lacking compared to the other songs on here. The song feels almost formulaic and just lacks its own individuality that the rest of these songs have. 

Not My Type: Dead as Fuck 2- SSSSSMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHH. AND RIGHT BACK WITH ANOTHER BANGER. This song sounds like a REALLY good Marilyn Manson song, and that is a compliment to both bands. Everything about this song is incredible, from the instrumental to the downright wild lyrics is absolute perfection. For a song about going down on a corpse this song is fucking incredible. 2nd "Listen to this Fucking Song" award.

The Ladder- SSSSMMMMMMAAASSSSHHHH. Another absolute bop. This one is WAYY heavier than the rest so far but it fits the song so well. The vocal delivery on the clean and the screams is perfect. The opening is weird but makes so much sense. This song is fucking brutal, not as bad as Reckless & Relentless but still insane. Great song.

Voices- SSSMMAAASSSHHH. Another banger, this album is just too fucking good. I'm starting to run out of things to say, everything that is good on one song is just as good on the next and just falls short of Rats. With that said though, all of these songs are good, just some are better than others. This one is great, nothing special but still a bop.

LOUD (Fuck It)- SSMMAASSHH. The bangers just keep fucking coming. The electronic elements of this song add so much to an already great track. The riff is catchy and the chorus sounds like a stadium chant. Great song as expected.

570- SSMMMAAASSSHHH. FAST AS FUCK AND HEAVY AS HELL. This sounds like it belongs on their first album, way heavier than their newer music but still incredible and not overbearing. The clean vocals sound incredible especially mixed with the brutal growls Chris does on this track. Another banger in a long list.

Hourglass- SSSMAASHH. WHAT A START. Comes out of the gates swinging and only lets up a little bit. The slow breakdown is great and really ties the whole song together. Not much to say, EVERY song on this album is a banger.

Eternally Yours- SSSSMMMMAAASSSSHHHH. WHAT A CLOSER. Slow and dark then picks up and keeps a nice steady pace and mood to close out the party. This album is a Masterpiece (pun for other MIW fans intended).

Conclusion

This album is fucking INCREDIBLE, an absolute must listen for any fan of heavy music. That being said, does this album have any glaring problems? Yes. Every song is amazing because they all sound the same. Am I mad about that though? FUCK NO THEY ARE ALL FUCKING GREAT. The only song I'm not a fan of is the Jonathan Davis collab as it leaves a LOT to be desired (that iconic KORN bass tone). However that does not take away from the album at all.

RANK: A

Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll have more reviews up soon as I've been busy as all hell. I promise I'll have the new Knocked Loose album reviewed soon, spoiler alert its fucking AWESOME. With that though I'm gonna call the review here. Thanks for reading and any feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

-Jake (JunosBestFriend)