Motionless In White – Decades | ALBUM REVIEW
- Charis Lydia Bagioki
- Jul 12
- 5 min read
There is a strange kind of relationship you build with a band after listening to them for more than a decade. They start off as an artist on a playlist, and then progressively they become timestamps in one’s life. I found Motionless In White in 2012, when “Infamous” was released; I remember “Devil’s Night” being the soundtrack to every teenage identity crisis I had, I remember advocating for how impactful the lyrics of “Immaculate Misconception” were, I even remember the crowd reaction to “Reincarnate” when it was released in 2014. Since then, they have evolved from the horror-metal underdogs into arena headliners without losing the thing that made them compelling in the first place” they have always maintained their identity, never compromising who they are, even when experimenting with who they could become.
“Decades” feels like exactly that: a culmination of every single sound the band has released made into an album that is the next move and upgrade. The title track opens heavier than expected, immediately framing the record as both a celebration and a statement. After surviving 20 years in a genre where trends chew through bands faster than streaming algorithms, Motionless In White don’t sound nostalgic; they sound vindicated. What strikes me most is how naturally this album threads different genres and different eras of the band’s career so seamlessly. The industrial edge of “Infamous” is brought back in tracks such as “Blood Rave”, “Count Back From Zero” and “Hollywood”, the gothic grandeur of “Graveyard Shift” is threaded through “R.I.P” and “All That I’ve Ever Known”, and the polished electronics of “Disguise” make a comeback in “Sunglasses at Night”. Even the cinematic flair of “Scoring the End of the World” seems to coexist peacefully through the whole album, without feeling like callbacks for the sake of fan service. Instead, they feel like pieces of a puzzle that have fallen into place to reveal the complete picture.
“log_in//crash_out” is exactly the kind of title Motionless In White could make work. Chris Motionless has never shied away from making statements that feel like hard-to-swallow pills in his lyrics (see “A-M-E-R-I-C-A”), and this song is one of them. Exploring the digital-age anxiety of our age, the band merges electronics and riffs to communicate the feeling of chaos and calculation. The lyrics of the song hit particularly hard: “The price of attention is human connection, (Plus tax) and the service fee’s your soul”. Straight after that comes “R.I.P.” featuring Skylar Grey. When the song was released, people thought this is a surprise for the album. Grey’s vocals are ethereal and soft, whilst Chris’ vocals are impactful. But Motionless in White are masters of the metalcore ballad and creating songs that feel haunted. It is therefore no surprise that they have another dark and introspective song to feel like the breath one takes before drowning.
Before the next collab song, “Fight Like Hell” brings back the original MIW sound we expect. It is not trying to reinvent Motionless In White, but it reminds everyone why their formula works when executed well. One of the things I loved about this song is that it feels comfortably familiar. It is like the band took “Sign of Life”, “Brand New Numb” and “Break the Cycle”, gave it more confidence and defiance, and then created the song. Lyrically, it sounds even more like a mission statement: “This is my brutality”. Classic Motionless mastery, imagery and momentum. And speaking of aggression and impact, “Playing God” featuring Corey Taylor was the first sample we got of what the new record would sound like. And it is exactly as explosive as the fans hoped; feral, hard, angry, reflective, addictive. Lyrically, it is a fed-up reflection on internet toxicity (to which Motionless are no strangers), but it avoids becoming a generic social media TikTok overlay kind of song. It is less about online culture and more about what happens when empathy becomes optional and performative.
The album does not take any other moments to breathe. With “All That I’ve Ever Known”, the album just shifts into something more theatrical, where horror-language and gothic grandeur inject the personality of the band into the record. It brings the big chorus and memorable chant back into the mix, and the sound and rhythms throughout are little nods to the band’s history. They remind you to go and listen to “Infamous” and “Reincarnate”, but with a techno-electronic twist. And this is where “Blood Rave” comes as the perfect sequence. Featuring Anthony Martinez of Dark Divine, the song is unapologetically ridiculous in the best possible way. It maintains the horror aesthetics but embracing campness, heaviness and that absolutely feral energy one would have at a the metal clubnight version of Berghein. If I could choose only one favourite song in “Decades”, it would be this one.
“Love at First Bite” doubles down on that gothic playfulness. It is catchy enough to stay in your head for days, using clever hooks and integrating heaviness that always reminds you what kind of sound they are known for. Similarly, “Count Back from Zero”, “Blood Pact” and “Afraid of the Dark” feel almost autobiographical. They follow the same recipe, even though the latter especially lands differently knowing it’s inspired by the band’s earliest touring struggles. Chris is not romanticising Motionless In White; he is documenting the lows and the resilience it takes to go high. Plenty of bands make songs about their success; but very few remember to celebrate survival. Finally, Heidi Klum’s inspired cover “Sunglasses At Night” makes absolute sense when put in the record. The band has always had a talent in absorbing and integrating unexpected influences into their universe rather than merely covering them, and this is another song that proves they can make new chapters in the same story that keeps the plot interesting.
What I appreciated most after listening to the album about 3647813264871209 times in an afternoon, is that “Decades” refuses to chase validation. Collaborations are not used for PR stunts, and the electronics are not there to change the band’s vision. Even though Motionless In White could easily lean harder into radio rock after the success of “Masterpiece”, or double down exclusively on their heaviest material to satisfy purists, they continue making music that is simply theirs. As a longtime fan, “Decades” reminds me why Motionless have lasted while so many of their peers faded away. They know the difference between evolution and reinvention. Every album has introduced something new, but they've never abandoned the DNA that made songs like Immaculate Misconception, Reincarnate, or 570 hit so hard. The new album isn't nostalgic; it simply understands that confidence has always been one of the band's greatest weapons.
And 20 years in, they still know how to use it.
Roadrunner Records
Release: 17 July 2026
