Customer Reviews

The Violence Beneath

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With a no-holds-barred attitude and straightforward approach, The Violence Beneath promises a new direction for M.O.T.A as they continue to move forward with experimental design. Consisting of two new tracks, one live recording, and an unconventional cover of a timeless classic, this EP is generated with enough power and energy to outshine its 30 minute lifespan. And while there is a subtle echo that lingers on from some of the band's previous works (i.e. "Restore" is comparatively reminiscent of The Ties That Blind era), The Violence Beneath is an entirely new monster that stands alone respectively and dominantly. Righteously being dubbed as the self-title, track one unleashes an ungodly attack of aggressive nature. The vocals are barbaric, bludgeoning the ears with immense low growls and neanderthalian outcries. Delivering brute force and sounding gloriously meaty, the guitars continue to punish with massive upbeat riffs that resonate a ZOZOBRAesque feel. Fueled by primal rage, this is M.O.T.A pissed off in their finest hour. And I love it. "Buried Hopes" however turns the tide. The bittersweet somberness of the acoustic introduction calls forth a gloomy, hopelessly desperate state of pain and anguish. Nevertheless, M.O.T.A gradually builds toward a climatic transition during this track to fulfill their reputation of hate and heartache. "Restore" (my personal favorite) is a live recording, but the quality of sound is so aesthetically pleasing that it shows just how talented this band really is. I was convinced for a long time that this song was recorded in the studio. The cover song was much unexpected and at the same time, surprisingly brilliant. M.O.T.A really lets the true emotion of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" come to life as they beef up the vocals to enhance the overwhelming effect of warmth and compassion. This EP should be considered the pinnacle of the band's success: Much like the emotion behind each of these songs, M.O.T.A ventures deeper into the abyss of pain and progress, making their exploration of creativity vast and endless.

To me most of the EP just takes over where Quietly stops. Quietly grew on me, but if you take the last song on that cd and make 4 songs out of this ep this is what you got. One problem is recording in Dayton and not the former studio they used before and creates mediocre production. Not much keyboards on this ep nor sampling and the guitars are recorded in a bathtub and so are the drums. The bass guitar is quite loud which is a nice change. The title track is a ruined mess in my opinion and a big blur of noise. If you can get past that the second song Buried Hopes is pretty good even despite some flaws but is a good song over time. The cover song In your eyes is quite interesting. To me this ep isn't that tight but it's still MOTA and realize they have had lineup changes that is part of the reason but hope they return to a new album in a year or two that is epic.