CD Odyssey Disc 1749: In This Moment

For the second time in three albums, the CD Odyssey has provided some heavy metal with a female lead singer. Cool!

Disc 1749 is…A Star-Crossed Wasteland

Artist: In This Moment

Year of Release: 2010

What’s up with the Cover?  Even after the apocalypse there is still an opportunity for beauty. Sure the city in the background is destroyed and the conditions of those tracks suggests the trains are no longer running on time (or at all).

Despite that you can still get around by horse (if you can catch one) and with nuclear winter finally ending some sunlight has pushed through and caused that lovely tree to bloom. Ah…the apocalypse; so peaceful, so restful.

How I Came To Know It: My coworker Gerad has a niece that is a fan, and so I heard about In This Moment from her, through him (I’ve never met her). This was just me digging into their back catalogue after thoroughly enjoying 2012’s “Blood” (reviewed back at Disc 1684).

How It Stacks Up: I have four In This Moment albums. “A Star-Crossed Wasteland” is #3.

Rating: 3 stars

There’s a lot of screaming. That’s the first thing to know about In This Moment. It is very viscerally powerful, invigorating, empowering screaming, but it is screaming nonetheless.

That In This Moment lead singer Maria Brink can scream this loud and make it musical is the essence of her diabolical talent. Like a stadium full of fans cheering on their favourite team, In This Moment takes animalistic emotion and converts it to an anthem that lifts you up.

I know we’re into the third paragraph of the narrative at this point, so if you haven’t picked up on this being heavy metal please be formally warned at this time. This is heavy metal, and it isn’t your grandmother’s heavy metal (you know, Cream). This is modern metal, with thump and crunch to spare.

I am a long-time metal fan, but there are times when A Star-Crossed Wasteland was a bit too much for me. They have no reservations about throwing in multiple layers of sound and the result can be a very dense production that would usually put me off. There were times where it did put me off, but for the most part I just surrendered to the primal power of it all. I couldn’t sing along (frankly, how Brink’s vocal chords aren’t shredded bloody ribbons is a minor miracle) but I loved letting the experience wash over me.

The record starts with a bang (metaphorically and literally) with “The Gun Show”. Brink welcomes us to the gun show, but it isn’t some dude flexing his muscles. It could be about sex, and it could be about some Western-inspired post-apocalyptic confrontation, or it could be both. I think it is both. I just know when Brink welcomes you to the gun show, you are glad you…er…came.

The other star on this album is Jeff Fabb on drums. Fabb is fabulous, with a sharp snap to his playing that can turn into furiously precise rhythmic attacks at any moment. There are plenty of great moments, but I was particularly partial to his work on “Standing Alone” which has an eclectic mix of “hey, a marching band!” and “double-bass assault!”.

The album isn’t perfect. On “The Promise” we have Brink duetting with guest vocalist Adrian Patrick of the band “Otherwise”. I don’t know that band but listening to him struggle to keep up with Brink’s power made me decide to feel otherwise about checking him out further.

There are also times when Brink’s snarl is so close to insanity that the lyrics are hard to pick up, but here it is more of a feature than a bug. She’s so damned energized the words are secondary to the emotion they are transmitting – mostly a whole lot of aggression, passion and some of that classic Wendy O. Williams “It’s my life, and I’ll do what I like” kind of F off vibe.

The record ends with “World in Flames,” a power ballad that is at odds with all the scream and furor that precedes it. However, it is just the right palate cleanser to end with. Lest you think Brink is a one trick pony as a vocalist, on “World in Flames” she shows she is perfectly capable of holding big notes, and belting out a melody that feels the feels. A lot of the songs that precede this one are about burning it all down, but here Brink says she’ll stick with her partner even if everything burns around them. It’s positively romantic, and a reminder that all this time she wasn’t screaming at you, she was screaming with you.

Best tracks: The Gun Show, Standing Alone, A Star-Crossed Wasteland, Blazin’, World of Flames

CD Odyssey Disc 1684: In This Moment

Apologies for my lengthy absence, gentle readers. Much of last week I was travelling for work, and this slowed down my creative output considerably.

I’m back now and here’s the record that’s been kicking around in my head since last we connected.

Disc 1684 is…Blood

Artist: In This Moment

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover?  The picture above is not the picture on my album. While mine is also a special edition (re-issue and bonus tracks included) it has the original album cover, which is far racier. That cover features lead singer Maria Brink, crowned and sitting on a throne surrounded by eight naked women wearing expressionless white porcelain masks. A murder of crows flies in the background.

If you are thinking “whoa – that sounds incredible” you’d be right, but it is also a bit racy, so for those of you who aren’t comfortable with a whole lot of nudity in your art, I’ve instead posted this alternative cover.

This alternative cover is also pretty dope, featuring just a single crow perched on the same crown, minus Queen Maria and all the nude women. If you decide you want to see the original (having been forewarned), here’s the Wiki page.

How I Came To Know It: My coworker was asking me for music recommendations for his niece. I said I’d be glad to help but to make sure I was in the ballpark, could he tell me what she currently listens to. The answer was “In this Moment”.  In checking them out I realized, “hey, this niece is on to something!”

I can’t remember what I recommended in return. I think probably Creepshow and Poppy’s 2020 album, “I Disagree”.

How It Stacks Up: I have my eye out for one or two more In This Moment albums, but as of now “Blood” lives alone in my collection, and thus cannot stack up.

Rating: 3 stars

“In This Moment” is not for everyone. There is a visceral quality to their industrial metal sound that is invigorating, but they also sing about edgy topics, and that “industrial” moniker routinely steps over the line into “nu metal” territory. So, as with the cover, consider yourself warned before you investigate further.

The first thing you’ll note about “Blood” is that lead singer Maria Brink feels her feelings very deeply. When you are singing about this “tear your insides out” kind of stuff, it is important to be believable and Brink sounds every bit emotionally disturbed as the subject matter requires. She is equal parts vulnerable and dangerous best summed up with a warning of “careful, she bites”. If that sounds a bit animalistic well, so do a lot of the songs.

The album had three singles released, which also happen to be the best the record has to offer. The title track features a chorus that will want you to mosh until you throw your neck out. As my neck was already out this week, I refrained but it wasn’t easy. “Blood” is like a lot of In This Moment songs, feels triumphant and energetic, but a deeper dive into the lyrics reveals a dysfunctional relationship. Maybe a father, maybe a boyfriend, but definitely a jerk.

“Whore” is the album’s best song, challenging society’s judgment on dangerous girls with hearty sexual appetites. How the narrator conducts herself is her own business, and is under no obligation to explain herself, although the song’s refrain does a fine job of twisting the knife, with:

“But let me tell you something baby
You love me for everything you hate me for”

Musically this song has a great structure as well, slowly building behind the dull but insistent drum thud, the song crunch’s out loud and proud, raw with feeling. Some will find the tune a bit overblown, but I would counter that this is entirely the point. Like I noted in the lede, it’s not for everyone.

That is not to say there are not moments where In This Moment crosses the line into annoying screaming. It does. “You’re Gonna Listen To Me” doubles down on the overwrought singing and crunchy “loud” production in the hopes it can hide the boring melody and grating arrangement. It does not succeed.

“Adrenalize” is cool, but mostly because I think equating desire with someone getting chest-stabbed with an adrenaline needle is, er…novel? The production here is a bit busy, but the metaphor is edgy.

Near the end of the record we are treated to the album’s third standout. “Comanche” is an anthem that will have you fist pumping in the air. If you are a fan of In This Moment, “Comanche” is your call to arms, half affirmation of the music, and half rejection of the haters. I imagine this is a favourite at live shows.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of forgettable tunes on “Blood”. I’d talk about them but I’m having a hard time remembering them. The high points are easily worth the journey, but an honest assessment of the overall record is it is good, but not great.

Best tracks: Blood, Whore, Comanche