Motive Black – Auburn
Motive Black – Auburn
AFM Records
Release Date: 10/02/23
Running Time: 40:27
Review by Simon Black
8/10
This release is a vehicle for actor turned singer Elana Justin, who although far from being a Hollywood household name has some movie experience and brought this bunch of songs from a completely different music project from the other side of the States when she relocated to California. Well hey, it’s a change of direction that didn’t do Taylor Momsen any harm, so you never know, but it always rankles somewhat for pages like this that try and support underground bands dragging themselves up by their bootstraps through enough glass ceilings to rebuild the Crystal Palace when a ‘new’ artist leverages connections from a completely different industry to bypass the difficult bottom rungs of the music one, but that’s entertainment for you.
So, what about the music? Well, it’s actually pretty good.
With a strong Alternative Metal vibe to it, the songs as mentioned previously are from a completely different project and have been reworked into a more Metal mould that works surprisingly well in the main. OK, single ‘Broken’ sounds like a pre-fabricated attempt to have a radio-friendly hit single with it’s melody lines sounding 90’s Emo when given the Metal treatment, but in the main the rest of the material works really well and comes off as authentic. By her own admission Justin doesn’t come from that aggressive musical backdrop, but she’s adapted remarkably quickly, and has transitioned from the clean-cut American girl next door look of her acting and modelling years to full blown tattooed rock singer with a serious point to make.
And make it well she does…
Her voice is quite impressive – powerful, emotive and gutsy, and it’s actually when she’s pushing her larynx that this authenticity comes across best (as compared to the aforementioned single). She also has some credible help, with the rest of the band being drawn from Marcos Curiel from P.O.D. guitarist and Korn drummer Ray Luzier, with some backing vocal support from Butcher Babies’ Carla Harvey. There is a rawness to the emotional delivery of the quite in your face lyrics that really makes this work though, with the exception of the single and despite my reservations at the leapfrogging to the front of the queue, it’s a record that works from the authenticity of Elana Justin’s delivery.
‘Caged’ Official Audio:
TRACKLISTING:
01. Lift Me Up
02. Broken
03. Let Down
04. Caged
05. Purge
06. Cellophane
07. Bad Decisions
08. Fake
09. Fight Alone
10. Auburn
11. Lift Me Up
LINE-UP:
Elana Justin – Vocals
Marcos Curiel – Guitars
Ray Luzier – Drums
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Simon Black and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
