| Disguise | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Motionless in White |
| Cover: | DisguiseMIWcover.jpg |
| Recorded: | May 2018–March 2019 |
| Genre: |
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| Length: | 42:31 |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Graveyard Shift |
| Prev Year: | 2017 |
| Next Title: | Scoring the End of the World |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
Disguise is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band Motionless in White. It was released on June 7, 2019, through Roadrunner Records and was produced by Drew Fulk and Chris "Motionless" Cerulli. It is the second release on a major label since the band's departure from Fearless Records.[2] The album's tracklist was revealed on April 17 together with the release of the two singles, "Disguise", which had been premiered at Earthday Birthday in Orlando a few days prior, and "Brand New Numb".[3] It is the band's first album with Vinny Mauro on drums and former Ice Nine Kills bassist Justin Morrow (although credited, neither of them perform on the album), who replaced Devin "Ghost" Sola on bass guitar, as well as the first album not to feature Josh Balz on keyboards.
On May 6, 2018, Chris Motionless announced via Instagram that a new album would be released in 2019. He claimed that he, along with Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky Olson, would begin full-time writing prior to touring with Warped Tour that summer.
On April 17, the band announced the album was to be titled Disguise. On the same day, they released two singles off of the album titled "Disguise" and "Brand New Numb", along with the tracklist and official artwork created by Zach Dunn.[3]
On May 10, the band released their third single "Undead Ahead 2: The Tale of the Midnight Ride" and its corresponding music video.[4]
On June 5, two days before the album was due to drop, the band premiered the song "Thoughts & Prayers" on BBC's Radio 1's Rock Show with Daniel P. Carter.
The song "Brand New Numb" was featured in NHL 20.
On June 12, Motionless in White released a documentary on the recording and making of the album. The documentary consists of what it was like to make the album along with what the album means to the band. There are also clips of studio jokes, guitar work, and some vocals from the album. While the documentary unfolds, instrumentals can be heard of the whole album which makes watching the video more enjoyable for fans. The commentary has interviews of the band and what they think of the album. There are a lot of points in the video that discuss what the album means to them, with Chris Motionless saying, "And with this record, I heavily gravitated towards writing about the long journey of admitting to myself that i'm struggling with a lot mentally while simultaneously being in the best and happiest place in my life, I was also in one of the darkest places and that contradiction of those feelings festered in my head and left me more and more confused by my life in general to which it then manifested into deeper and deeper destructive feelings and actions as my time ignoring it went on until one day I just lost it and broke down and there begins basically the story of so many of these songs." While the album has a lot of emotions in it, there are also different feelings for the album with Ryan Sitkowski saying that this is a "solidified version of what Motionless in White actually is". The recordings shown are the songs that can be heard across the album with the song, "Another Life" being a background track during parts of the video. Justin Morrow is shown in the documentary as he just joined the band and got to help make it as the record. It shows him doing background screams. The commentary shows what it was like to make this album and gives more insight into what the album means as a whole.[5]
Disguise received mixed reviews from several music critics. Ian Kenworthy of Already Heard gave the album 3.5 out of 5 and said: "At its best, Disguise delivers a fun bucketload of goth-flavoured metalcore mayhem. However, it sags in places, especially when they step outside their comfort zone." Carlos Zelaya of Dead Press! scored the album 4/10 stating: "For their fifth album, Disguise, you pretty much know what to expect at this point, with the album being rife with the band's signature goth and industrial-tinged metal, with some clear toe-dipping into nu-metal here and there too."
Distorted Sound scored the album 7 out of 10 and said: "In all, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE have sculpted an album that will surely continue to contribute to their domination, but it does feel as though it achieves this at the expense of innovation and more forward thinking ideology. They are a band that have achieved a lot despite their hardship, and their well earned confidence shines through Disguise at every opportunity." Adam Rice of Wall of Sound rated the album 3.5 out of 5 saying, "Motionless In White have done it again, although not all songs are great there is a healthy mix of different styles and genres which would tailor to anyone's music tastes. With not one song sounding similar to another, its a bag of all sorts!"
Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019[6] and the best nu metal album of 2019.[1]