The album, preceded by the lead single "Speak in Tongues", was guitarist Andrew Goldstein's first solo effort. After its release, the band started to write songs for their next album, which was later titled Creatures.
Music and lyrics
Motionless in White's debut studio album, Creatures, was released through Fearless Records on October 12, 2010. It was . The album, which was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, was . It was the first album to feature guitarist Andrew Goldstein, who joined the band in 2007. His first musical venture, Creatures also marked the first solo effort from Motionless in White frontman Austin Carlile, who had previously been involved in the bands Clowns, Circus of Power and more recently, Dance Gavin Dance.
Lyrically, Creatures deals with themes of the apocalypse, interpersonal problems and the breakdown of society. Carlile explained that the record was heavily influenced by the dystopian science fiction novels 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, as well as the films The Day of the Triffids and 1984. Regarding the record, Carlile said that he drew inspiration from these books and films, as well as an incident where he witnessed a trash truck dumping a body into a dumpster. He explained, "I imagined the dumpster as being this inescapable, all-consuming wave of dread that would devour us all." According to Carlile, there was also a strong environmental and environmentalist message behind the album, as reflected by its cover art.
Musically, the record is a mix of hardcore punk, metalcore, melodic hardcore, and mathcore. It has been described by multiple music critics as "metalcore", a genre which combines the heavy metal and hardcore punk genres. Lyrically, the record contains a combination of genres and phrases, such as "Father Savior Lover" and "Prayer for a Friend." Critics have noted the record's similarity to works by bands such as A.S.A.P., Converge, Rise Against, and The Offspring, as well as the grunge rock movement.
Critical reception
Creatures received positive reviews from music critics. The record holds an aggregate score of 69 out of 100 on the music review site Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 5 reviews. Writing for the American website The Washington Post, Peter Helman graded the album an A+, stating
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