While Scranton, Pennsylvania is frequently portrayed in popular culture as the epitome of everyday normalcy, the gothic metalcore outfit Motionless in White produces sounds that defy any notion of restraint. Their style fuses the visceral aggression of metalcore with the theatrical textures of goth-metal and industrial music, creating a brooding sonic identity shaped equally by Type O Negative and Slayer. The band surfaced in 2010 and reached a broader audience in 2014 when their third studio album, Reincarnate, entered the Billboard Top 200 at number nine. Further commercial traction followed both domestically and internationally through Graveyard Shift (2017), Disguise (2019), and Scoring the End of the World (2022).
The group originated in 2005 during the high-school years of vocalist Chris Cerulli, drummer Angelo Parente, guitarist Mike Costanza, and bassist Frank Polumbo. It expanded to a five-piece with the 2007 arrival of keyboardist Josh Balz, coinciding with the Masquerade release of their first EP, The Whorror. After Polumbo and Costanza exited in subsequent years, Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky Olson joined, enabling the band to proceed with the 2009 Tragic Hero EP When Love Met Destruction. A deal with Fearless Records led to the 2010 full-length Creatures and the 2012 follow-up Infamous. Reincarnate appeared in summer 2014, marking the group’s strongest chart performance at that point. In June 2016 they announced their move to Roadrunner Records and simultaneously issued the single “570.”
Early in 2017 Balz departed, after which Marie Christine-Allard assumed keyboard duties for the recording of the fourth album, Graveyard Shift. Released in May 2017, the set included the singles “Rats” and “Loud (Fuck It)” along with a guest appearance by Korn’s Jonathan Davis. The following year the musicians returned to the studio, emerging in 2019 with their fifth album, Disguise, which mirrored its predecessor by registering on charts in several countries. In early 2022 the band unveiled the singles “Masterpiece” and “Cyberhex,” the latter featuring ex-Cradle of Filth member Lindsay Schoolcraft. Both tracks were featured on the sixth album, Scoring the End of the World, issued that May.
