Reincarnate is the third studio album by American metalcore band Motionless in White. It was released on September 15, 2014, through Fearless Records in the UK and a day later worldwide. It was produced by Dan Korneff and Chris "Motionless" Cerulli. Reincarnate is the last Motionless in White album to be released on Fearless Records.
| Reincarnate | ||||
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| Released | September 16, 2014 | |||
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| Length | 55:53 | |||
| Label | Fearless | |||
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| Motionless in White chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Reincarnate | ||||
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Background and recording
editOn January 23, 2014, the band announced a short headlining tour in March with The Plot in You, Like Moths to Flames, For the Fallen Dreams, and The Defiled with For Today appearing in San Antonio. Following the tour the band entered the studio to work on their follow-up to their 2012 album, Infamous.[2]
On April 23, the band's third studio album, Reincarnate was announced through social media, with an intended release date of September 16, 2014 worldwide but would be released a day earlier in the UK only.[3][4] The band stated that they would remain a quintet and work with touring and session drummers.[5] On June 11, Fearless Records released a video featuring the album's artwork and contained a teaser for the first single of the album, "Reincarnate", which was to be released on July 1, but was instead released on July 8. "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)" was released on iTunes on Tuesday August 5.[6][7]
In an interview with Rock Sound magazine, Chris Motionless expressed that recording the third album was much easier compared to Infamous as "...the timeframe worked against me, and there was an inner conflict going on, trying to move into a different style of music and making a lot of mistakes as I went."[8] He stated that the album's sound will contain the aggressiveness Creatures had which Infamous lacked in and will also have a more consistent style.[8] Despite the departure of drummer Brandon Richter, the band stated that they remain as a quintet and will be working with touring and session drummers.[5]
"For those asking about who is playing drums for us, we are just going to be touring with a drummer from now on and remaining a 5 piece band, and lastly, the drums for Reincarnate were performed and recorded by a close friend."
Release and promotion
editThe album artwork was revealed in the teaser video released on June 11.[6] It was created by Chad Michael Ward and features model Harper Leigh.[9] After the album's announcement in July and pre-orders were made available, it was also reported that a deluxe edition of the album would also include a bible-styled case for the physical copy.[10]
The album was listed as one of the most anticipated releases of 2014 by Alternative Press.[3] The first single released off the album was the song of the same name and was released on July 8 after a week delay and was issued with a lyric video.[7] After the album's official announcement, pre-orders were made available of which included many bundles including; bracelets, denim vests, necklaces and signed posters.[10] After the song's release, the track list also became available, revealing thirteen tracks (fourteen including the bonus track) and included featured artists such as; Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth, Maria Brink of In This Moment and Tim Sköld formerly of Marilyn Manson and KMFDM.[10]
The song "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)", featuring Dani Filth of the extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, was released on August 5 to promote the album and was also distributed with a lyric video.[11] To promote their album, they streamed the non-deluxe album in full on September 11 after announcing a scavenger hunt to find eleven miniature wooden coffins which all contained a track from the album, nine stationed in American cities, one in Canada and the other in London, England.[12] Once all had been found the album was put up online for streaming.[13]
The music video for the first single "Reincarnate" was uploaded to YouTube by the band's record label on the same date as the album's international release, September 16, 2014. The music video was filmed in the same location that the album cover was shot at, later revealed as the Alexandria Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles and is a means of "...bringing the artwork to life...".[14]
The song "Unstoppable", was used as the official theme song for WWE NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable. On February 19, 2015, the music video for the single "Break the Cycle" was released.
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100[15] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [16] |
| Alternative Press | [17] |
| Louder Sound | [18] |
| Rock Sound | 6/10[19] |
The album received positive reviews from music critics. Reincarnate received an average score of 74 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" on Metacritic.[15] AllMusic gave the album a positive review and saying, "With the album running close to an hour, the guest spots help to add a little something different here and there, mixing things up before they have a chance to go stale. With so much going on, however, it's hard to see how any Motionless in White fans could be bored with the offerings laid before them on Reincarnate. With so much confidence and gothic swagger, it's hard not to be entertained by this album, and listeners who may have been thrown by their inconsistent early work would do well to dive back into the abyss with this third effort."[16]
Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press stated that this is the best direction that the band is going and is glad they have decided to progress their sound instead of listening to their fans and maintaining their old sound, saying of the album: "Sonically diverse and diamond-hard, Reincarnate takes seemingly disparate elements to create a soundtrack for metalheads, gothic beauties and industrial rivetheads to immerse themselves."[17] Andy Biddulph of Rock Sound stated that the band appear to be firming up the sound from their previous album Infamous, but with various degrees of success. He complained that they are taking too much influence from Marilyn Manson and Cradle of Filth, therefore lacking in their own identity. However, Biddulph went on to say that it was a good effort and hopes that their next album will be an improvement.[19]
Commercial performance
editThe album sold 31,000 copies in its first week of release and debuted at No. 9 Billboard top 200, No. 1 Rock album charts, and became the No. 1 Metal Album on iTunes.[20]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Death March" | Motionless in White, Mick Kenney, Drew Fulk, Tim Sköld | 4:43 |
| 2. | "Reincarnate" | Motionless in White, Kenney, Fulk | 3:40 |
| 3. | "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)" (featuring Dani Filth) | Motionless in White, Kenney | 4:15 |
| 4. | "Unstoppable" | Motionless in White, Erik Ron | 3:27 |
| 5. | "Everybody Sells Cocaine" | Motionless in White, Fulk, Sköld, Kyle Odell | 3:55 |
| 6. | "Contemptress" (featuring Maria Brink) | Motionless in White, Sköld, Ron | 4:02 |
| 7. | "Break the Cycle" | Motionless in White, Kenney, Fulk, Sköld, Odell | 4:02 |
| 8. | "Generation Lost" | Motionless in White, Kenney, Fulk, Sköld | 2:59 |
| 9. | "Dark Passenger" | Motionless in White, Kenney, Fulk, Ron | 3:49 |
| 10. | "Wasp" (featuring Dessa Poljak of Silencio) | Motionless in White, Kenney, Fulk, Sköld | 7:01 |
| 11. | "Dead as Fuck" | Motionless in White, Kenney, Fulk | 2:57 |
| 12. | "Final Dictvm" (featuring Tim Sköld) | Sköld | 5:06 |
| 13. | "Carry the Torch" | Motionless in White, Sköld | 5:57 |
| Total length: | 55:53 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Sinematic" (acoustic version) | 4:28 |
| Total length: | 60:21 | |
Personnel
edit
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Charts
edit| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] | 19 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22] | 20 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[23] | 43 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[24] | 3 |
| US Billboard 200[25] | 9 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[26] | 2 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[27] | 9 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[28] | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] | 1 |
Year-end charts
edit| Chart (2014) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Top Hard Rock Albums[30] | 29 |
References
edit- ^ "iTunes – Music – Reincarnate (Staff review)". iTunes. September 16, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
Motionless in White juggled a range of styles, from pummeling blast-beat hardcore to grinding industrial to occasionally melodic metalcore. And while their music earned the descriptor "horror metal," it could also be quite tuneful. Reincarnate pulls all these elements together.
- ^ "Motionless In White announce tour with Like Moths To Flames, The Plot In You, more – Alternative Press". Altpress.com. January 23, 2014. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
- ^ a b Crane, Matt. "Motionless In White announce new album, 'Reincarnate'". Altpress.com. AltPress. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White unveil Reincatnate details, stream title-track". Kerrang.com. Kerrang!. July 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "Motionless In White To Remain A Quintet Going Forward". The PRP. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
- ^ a b "Motionless In White To Release "Reincarnate" Digital Single Next Week". Theprp.com. The PRP. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ a b Sayce, Rob (April 2014). "Immaculate Misconceptions". Rocksound. May 2014 (186): 10–12.
- ^ "Timeline Photos – Chris Motionless". Facebook. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ a b c Chad, Bowar (8 July 2014). "Motionless in White Reveal 'Reincarnate' Album Guests + Title Track Lyric Video". Loudwire.com. Loudwire. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ Kraus, Brian. "Motionless In White release new song, "Puppets 3 (The Grand Finale)" (ft. Dani Filth)". Altpress.com. Altpress. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White are hiding bits of wood everywhere". Rocksound.tv. Rocksound. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ Carter, Emily. "Motionless in White stream new album, Reincarnate, in full". Kerrang.com. Kerrang!. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ Winwood, Ian (September 13, 2014). "A Major Motionless Picture". Kerrang. No. 1534. Kerrang!. Kerrang!. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ a b "'Reincarnate' on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
- ^ a b Heaney, Gregory. "Overview". Allmusic.com. Allmusic. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ a b Pettigrew, Jason. "Motionless In White – Reincarnate". Altpress.com. Altpress. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ "Motionless In White: Reincarnate". Louder Sound. 19 August 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- ^ a b Biddulph, Andy (October 2014). "Motionless in White – Reincarnate". www.Rocksound.tv. No. 192. Rocksound. Rocksound. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ Records, Fearless. "Motionless In White – Reincarnate". Facebook.com. Fearless Record. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Motionless in White – Reincarnate". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ^ "Motionless in White Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ^ "Year-End Top Hard Rock Albums - 2014". Billboard. December 31, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2024.