How Chris Motionless Switches Between Heavy Songs + Ballads

Motionless in White are, of course, known for their hard-hitting tracks, but they do like to dabble in the softer end of the spectrum as well. Frontman Chris Motionless has no problem switching between writing heavy songs and ballads, but he admitted that his state of mind can really have an impact on the outcome of them.

The band’s upcoming sixth studio album Scoring the End of the World drops this Friday (June 10), and among the four songs they’ve already shared from it are “Slaughterhouse” and “Masterpiece” — which are polar opposites, sonically. Motionless explained to Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez that he feels their softer songs connect more with their audience, despite their reputation for being heavy.

“What I think is really, really cool is as of our last record [2019’s Disguise], we put out a song called ‘Another Life.’ And that song kind of seems like it struck a chord with fans that are into the heavy stuff, the rock stuff, whatever it is — it just felt like that song really opened the door for people to be okay with the fact that the band isn’t always in a ‘pummeling’ position,” Motionless recalled.

“You can tell that when ‘Masterpiece’ came out, the fans love the songs that have that deep, honest, heartfelt connection,” he continued. “You can have a song that’s angry like ‘Slaughterhouse,’ you can have a call-to-arms type of war cry song like ‘Cyberhex.’ They do well, but nothing beats the deep-connecting raw lyrics like ‘Masterpiece’ had, so you can absolutely tell that most fans are excited about that.”

When it comes to crafting the songs, the frontman is able to sit down with an idea of what type of mood he wants to write about. But being in that particular headspace, he said, helps amplify them and make them that much better.

“I can say, ‘I’m gonna sit down and write a heavy song.’ And I could, but would it turn out as good as it would if it was more spawned out of that emotion, that feeling? For us, historically, it has more-so come from the frame of mind that you’re in. Like over the pandemic, if I feel really aggressively outspoken about something, then I started working on ‘Slaughterhouse’ around that time,” he elaborated.

“Masterpiece,” on the other hand, was written during a darker and more reflective time that Motionless had experienced during the lockdown, which is encapsulated in the song.

Motionless in White are throwing a release party for Scoring the End of the World June 10 at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The following day, they’ll do a livestream to commemorate its release, and then have some shows scheduled in Australia, as well as North American festival performances throughout the summer and early fall. See all of their scheduled dates and get tickets on their website.

To hear more about the new album, tune into Loudwire Nights tonight at 7PM ET.

Loudwire Nights with Toni Gonzalez airs nightly starting at 7PM ET. You can tune in anytime, from anywhere right here or by downloading the Loudwire app.

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