My first knowledge of Motive came with the release of their "Doctrine of Scripted Torture" 7 inch that came out on Exit Records in 1997, and I never really gave much thought to what could have come before that. Nick from Limited Pressing recently sent me two releases that came out before that 7" that introduced me to the band. Since I don't know anything about the band prior to that release, Nick gave me a little write up as well:
When people think of Motive, they normally think of a 90s metal hardcore band from Long Island, and after 1997, they'd be correct. But before 1997, it's a whole different story. When Motive assembled their 4 piece in 1995 they weren't anything even close to a metal band, they were in fact a Vegan Straight Edge band! Those values lasted through a 4 song demo, and an extremely rare 4 song 7" called Underneath the Principleless Terrain. Atif was on bass, and Al Carter was on the mic. Al was a pretty well known guy in the scene back in the 90s. Not only was he the singer for a great band, but he was also a tattoo artist who did almost everyone in the scene's work. And he'd still be doing work, if he didn't die of an overdose a few years back. Underneath the Principleless Terrain is one of the greatest records I've ever owned in my life. That's pretty amazing considering I'm straight edge and they were a straight edge band who sold out. I think that's probably the greatest compliment I can give Al.
Motive - Demo
[1996]
http://www.mediafire.com/?m1wgkzdydnq
Motive - Underneath the Principleless Terrain
[1996]
http://www.mediafire.com/?yxytz1wddmm
When people think of Motive, they normally think of a 90s metal hardcore band from Long Island, and after 1997, they'd be correct. But before 1997, it's a whole different story. When Motive assembled their 4 piece in 1995 they weren't anything even close to a metal band, they were in fact a Vegan Straight Edge band! Those values lasted through a 4 song demo, and an extremely rare 4 song 7" called Underneath the Principleless Terrain. Atif was on bass, and Al Carter was on the mic. Al was a pretty well known guy in the scene back in the 90s. Not only was he the singer for a great band, but he was also a tattoo artist who did almost everyone in the scene's work. And he'd still be doing work, if he didn't die of an overdose a few years back. Underneath the Principleless Terrain is one of the greatest records I've ever owned in my life. That's pretty amazing considering I'm straight edge and they were a straight edge band who sold out. I think that's probably the greatest compliment I can give Al.
Motive - Demo[1996]
http://www.mediafire.com/?m1wgkzdydnq
Motive - Underneath the Principleless Terrain[1996]
http://www.mediafire.com/?yxytz1wddmm
Wow. I did not know they had other releases aside from that 7" and their full length. And a while back, I came across two unreleased tracks from another blog... would that be their complete discography? Thanks for the post. Glad to see there are other people who still cares about the good stuff from the 90's.
ReplyDeleteThis just became my favorite blog ever. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteYTC - The 2 unreleased songs you have could be the 2nd demo they put out with atif singing, which is after I VS, or they could be the 2 songs from the 516 Comp. This was a double CD of all mid 90s LI bands released on None of the Above records. They released Tensions first CD, and Kill Your Idols first 12" #ed out of 100. None of the Above was a record store on LI. The owner died about 5 years ago, and the shop closed down.
ReplyDeleteSo let's post these unreleased tracks then. I bet some psychologists would be interested in the phenomena of how many formerly vegan straight edge guys die from overdosing or related causes. It is regretfully an all-too-common story that should probably be studied to find what kinds of links there are that tie these together other than an obviously addictive personality.
ReplyDelete1985 - Thanks, it turns out those are from the Fetus Shall Become Ash demo they did after I vs. Apparently there are 4 songs! 2 down, 2 to go. I remember my old college roommate had that 516 comp. Good stuff. It was my introduction to Silent Majority, Tension, and Inside.
ReplyDeleteThat first motive 7" is my prized possession.
ReplyDeletewow this is amazing! I played guitar in motive and its hard to believe a cassette that we made 40 copies of survived !
ReplyDeleteThanks for this digital version. My tape is mangled.
Also, There is possibly is a motive discography in the works for a double vinyl release!
I was actually able to dig up an old 1994 demo tape of Al Carter's back when he was attending college in Potsdam, NY. He was drumming in a band called ASKEW. So unbelievable I still actually have this cassette after all of these years. Rest In Peace AL!!
ReplyDelete