On March 5, melodic metal/hard rock band In This Moment will play an acoustic set at a New York fashion show for Metal Couture, an event that will probably showcase lots of hot chicks in revealing outfits. If that's the case, In This Moment vocalist Maria Brink should feel right at home.
From the very moment her band started raising eyebrows with their 2007 debut Beautiful Tragedy, Brink has flaunted her attributes, donning revealing outfits for countless magazine photo shoots, eventually posing as the star of her label's 2009 "Girls of Century Media" sexy pin-up calendar and appearing in the music issue of Playboy currently on newsstands.
If In This Moment didn't have their own assets, such exhibitionism could trivialize their music. Fortunately, like a push-up bra, it only enhances what's already there. Brink can sing like an angel and howl like a demon and her bandmates play with confidence and skill, hungrily exploring the music spectrum.
Beautiful Tragedy was a searing platter of Pantera-influenced metal and hard rock. Last year's The Dream was far more melodic, bearing more in common with a heavier Pat Benatar or No Doubt, however the songs were also also multifaceted and the guitars were heavy, and for all of the old fans that bailed, In This Moment picked up more new listeners intrigued by the group's combination of sensuality, surreality and crashing rock.
Click "more" to see the picture of Brink in Playboy and hear our podcast, in which she talks about sexuality, being a role model to young girls, what she does on the bus and how she gets along with male bandmates. She also discussed her relationship with her boyfriend/Devildriver bassist Jonathan Miller, her biggest nightmares and the thrill of winning over different audiences from various genres. Read more...
If we received a nickel every time a musician complained to us about genre categories we'd be able to buy a luxury condo in Central Park. Sure, there are too many subgenres and bands tend to get pigeonholed within music types, but as someone famous once said, writing about music is like dancing to architecture. In order to give readers an idea of what a band sounds like, it's necessary to present terms that they understand. And, to be honest, the only ones we've really heard gripe about critics categorizing bands are the bands that don't wish to be placed in those particular categories, even if they accurately describe their music. Having said that, here's In This Moment's Chris Howorth sounding off about his distaste of genres. Click more for the guest blog. Read more...
On December 14, John Ostronomy and Mark Strigl from the podcast Talking Metal posted a show that included an interview with In This Moment guitarist Chris Howarth. It might seem like we're a little behind the eight ball since they've done four more podcasts since then, but we bring up the In This Moment episode because a video has just surfaced of Howarth, vocalist Maria Brink, Ostonomy and Strigl performing a cover of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills." Click more to watch. Read more...
Every year around the holidays we can count on someone to release a calendar that mixes two of our favorite themes -- white-hot metal and smokin'-hot babes. For 2009, it looks like it's gonna be Century Media that'll heat up those cold winter nights with their "Maidens of Metal: Girls of Century Media 2009" calendar, which features plenty of sexy shots that beg to be thumbtacked to the bathroom wall.
And it's not a selection of leather-clad bimbo models that fill the pages, the ladies are all hard rock and metal musicians that just happen to be crazy-hot. The calendar includes brand new photos of In This Moment's Maria Brink, Winds of Plague's Kristen Randall, Luna Mortis' Mary Zimmer, UnSun's Aya, Opiate For the Masses' Anna K., The Agonist's Alissa White-Gluz and more.
As sweet as it is, Lacuna Coil's steamy Cristina Scabbia and Arch Enemy's Teutonic babe Angela Gossow were doing their nails or something when the photo shoots were going down. That being the case, "Girls of Century Media" is still eye-popping, and and the label is only printing up 1,000 copies, so, five years from now, your $10 calendar could be worth way more on EBAY -- so long as the pages remain unstained.
Click "more" to see the tantalizing e-card: Read more...
Tags Arch Enemy, calendar, Century Media, Girls of Century Media 2009, heavy-metal, in-this-moment, Lacuna Coil, Maidens of Metal, Opiate for the Masses, The Agonist, Winds of Plague
Yeah, In This Moment singer Maria Brink looked more like Gwen Stefani than Lita Ford when she took the stage at the band's album preview party in downtown New York last week. But the band performed with heart and larger-than-life fervor even though the members were barely a foot off the floor on a tiny club stage. A further challenge to the band came from a hanging TV screen to their left, which broadcast Stanley Kubrick's masterful "A Clockwork Orange" throughout the concert. And as sexy as Brink is, it's hard to compete with creative images of the ultraviolence and bizarre camera angles of naked women. Still, In This Moment held their own. Click "more" watch MetalInjection.net's footage of their new single "Forever." Read more...
The Funeral Pyre -- The Nature of Betrayal (Prosthetic) They sure sound like they're from Norway, but These Californian headbangers wouldn't know a Scandinavian winter if it buried their inverted crucifixes in two feet of snow. Fortunately, that doesn't impair their ability to destroy. The band's second disc is a blasphemous blend of death and black metal. Their music abounds with swirling keyboards, scabrous vocals and speedy melodic riffs that that clash with crushing blast beats and dissonant flurries of guitar.
Daath -- The Hinderers (Roadrunner) Crafty thrash riffs, death metal beats, technical proficiency, fluid melodicism and hate-filled groove define the music of this eclectic Atlanta band, but their lyrics are even more of an anomaly. All of the songs on their debut album are built around themes of Jewish mysticism and Qabalistic thought. Maybe Madonna will take 'em out on her next tour.
In This Moment -- Beautiful Tragedy (Century Media) Lots of bands create tug-o-war scenarios between harsh and melodic vocals, but when the main vocalist is a stunning babe with a honey-sweet voice it creates an even more striking contrast. On their debut album, the band combines aspects of metalcore, thrash, pop, classic metal and nu-metal and molds them into a fresh and powerful sound that crosses boundaries and breaks barriers.
See You Next Tuesday -- Parasite (Ferret) The debut full-length from these smart-ass Michigan four piece is about as far removed musically as it could be from other day bands like Thursday or Taking Back Sunday. Instead, these guys play grinding, full-throttle noise-metal that sounds like a cross between Napalm Death and The Locust, with shards of Nasum. Devastating.
Clutch -- From Beale Street to Oblivion (DRT) The latest album from Maryland's masters of groove and stomp, From Beale Street to Oblivion is a celebration of bluesy decadanace, garage bluster and stoner metal panache that sounds equally appropriate on the back on a Harley or in bed with a bike gal.
Eye-pleasing In This Moment singer Maria Brink didn't look so hot at a recent video shoot for the band's single "Prayers." During filming, she was headbanging and collided with the camera dolly, splitting open the bridge of her nose.
"There was blood all over the place," she told MTV News.com's Metal File. "We just iced it and glued it shut, My hair's in my face for much of the video, to cover up the cut."
In This moment are currently on tour with Kittie, Walls of Jericho, Dead to Fall and 36 Crazyfists. Dates run through March 24 in Warren, Michigan. Then, they'll head out with Lacuna Coil and Stolen Babies, starting May 7 in Louisville, Kentucky. The band's debut full-length, Beautiful Tragedy comes out March 20.
For a complete interview with the band and more metal news than you can carry in a studded wheelbarrow, check out this week's Metal File on MTVnews.com.
photo by Robin Perine
