Motionless in White
Metro Theatre
Sydney, AU
September 19, 2017
Motionless in White embarked on their first national headline Australia tour this September in support of their new album Graveyard Shift.
With their unique djenty chuggs, intricate riffing, guttural breakdowns, haunting pop melodies, the occasional blast beat and over the top devious aesthetics, i.e. a penchant for necrophilia and stylized creepiness, Motionless In White having graced stages with the likes of Slipknot and Korn does not come as a surprise.
While I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical as to Motionless in White being a fashion core band in the wake of Eighteen Visions, who seemed to have had a lasting influence beyond inspiring the name of the band, the live incarnation of Chris Cerulli, who is wearing his Marilyn Manson influences on both his sleeve and face, and crue was quite an enjoyable treat.
With ample homage being paid to the shock rock and gothic genre, a highly energetic set and enough nuances to make their mélange of metalcore, gothic metal, pop punk and a tinge of industrial appealing.
The strength of Motionless in White is in their ability to seamlessly shift gears between traditional metalcore and industrial-esque excursions, at times entering Nine Inch Nails territory. both vocally ranging from high pitched screaming to singing and back and musically combining epic, macabre and explosive elements.
Yup, there are at times Hammer Horror and borderline kitschy gimmicks to be found in their oeuvre and it all feels oh so strangely familiar, and while less might be more in some case to not run danger of making the whole appear smaller than the sum of its parts, their engaging and charismatic live performance cements their status at the forefront of genre that has been muddled by epigones.
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Photos by KAVV
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