Riven, the sequel to Motograter.

There once was a band called Motograter, that was formed in 1995, and went through more band members than I’d like to mention, ever. But one of their most notorious members was, of course, front man Ivan Moody “Ghost” who is now lead singer of Five Finger Death Punch. At any rate, the band split apart, and then reformed with a new singer called Michael Woodruff “Angel.” Then the band added more members and changed the concept of the band, basically getting rid of the body paint that was one of the signatures of the band. (The other signature was the actual instrument that named the band; the motergrater. Which I’m not even a hundred percent sure what it was, it was a machine that had a wheel and some metal chording.) Well, with getting rid of their signature features, the band changed their name to Riven.

This band played a couple shows, I went to one of those shows in Modesto, California because I was excited. I’m a what you’d call a devote, I’ve been a fan of this group of people since I discovered them back in 2003. Of course, I’m a huge fan of Ivan Moody to begin with, but Angel isn’t that far off vocally. Anyway, they had a total of four (or was it three) songs, during their show they flashed back to Motograter and played some of the old songs. It was a great show, and these men have talent. No matter what they call themselves, or what they look like, and even no matter what members come and go, this band had what it took. Except one thing, commitment.

The band did a professional photo shoot, and prepared to attempt to begin touring. They released the demo with the tiny handful of songs they had, which I bought in a heartbeat. And then the band fizzled out, announcing they wouldn’t continue with Riven until all the band members were ready to continue.

This whole situation was like Firefly all over again, one season and then it leaves you hanging and their is no way to see what happens next. The Motograter sequel was worse than the original, only on the pretense that Motograter achieved so much more. It’s like an awesome game that gets a bad sequel. Or a great book turned into a horrible movie. What happened? Where’s my next most played song? These guys had what it took. And they just let it fade away.

“Please, believe in everything I say. And please believe in everything I do. And please believe I will stand there beside you when everything is gone.” – Riven

Riven. I’m waiting for your sequel. I need part three or I’m going to go crazy.