In This Moment Improve New Sound After Their Worst Album

In This Moment's last record, 2012's Blood was critically acclaimed and won over new and old fans alike. I however find that album to be overrated and miss the older records like 2007's Beautiful Tragedy or 2010's A Star-Crossed Wasteland which was in my opinion their opus. The metalcore influence that was present on all of their first three albums. Maria Brink and crew claimed to have found their identity on this industrial metal mishap. While Blood had a few great songs ("Adrenalize," "Whore") it lacked the spark of their first three albums.
When the band announced their album Black Widow and posted on social media about "finding their sound" I was a bit skeptical. However when the band released the album's first single, "Sick Like Me," in September I was impressed. The single was heavy and melodic and mixed in everything that In This Moment had done successfully in the past.
The rest of the album is a step up from Blood. The title track is a dance oriented track that has an intro discussing black widow spiders. The song is a sexy anthem that is heavy and catchy and great. Second single "Big Bad Wolf" is by far the heaviest song on the album. On the song Brink wrestles her inner demons resulting in aggression but also infectious music. "Bones" is a more melodic song that deals with the aftermath of a breakup. Brink sings about not being able to move on from a past love. The song is melodic in the verses and then gets very metal on the hook. "Bloody Creature Poster Girls" is about as close to Lana Del Rey while "Natural Burn Sinner" is a gay anthem about loving yourself. Think "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga or "Raise Your Glass" by P!nk gone metal.
The album's best song is "Sex Metal Barbie." This hip hop inspired anthem is a big middle finger to the haters and bloggers who say that Brink isn't metal enough because she's a woman. Brink is the topic of many a negative comment by people stating that the band are bad and the only reason their famous is because Brink is attractive.
"I heard I don't belong in this scene/ Sexy metal Barbie/ Homicidal queen," Bring sings during the chorus.
While most of the songs are amazing there are a few moments where the band fall short of greatness. "Into the Darkness" is a creepy and downright weird interlude with uncomfortable spoke words by Brink and a man. "Sexual Hallucination" which features Brent Smith of Shinedown is a boring, slow moving ballad that doesn't really go anywhere.
Other than those few mishaps, Black Widow is a great record. It isn't In This Moment's best work but it is better than Blood and that says a lot. This album has helped me regain love of one of my favorite bands. If they keep along these lines they'll get many new fans and have a lot of success.

 

Five Finger Death Punch Shine On Second Album Of 2013

Metal titans Five Finger Death Punch released their phenomenal fourth record,  The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1only four months ago and they're already back for more with the band's fifth record Volume 2. The album's both featured the band's signature heavy mix of groove metal and hard rock.
The album opens with three best songs on the record. "Here to Die" is a heavy and aggressive song that features the band on their signature sound of hard music with angry lyrics. "Weight Beneath My Sin" continues along the same route as the first track. "Wrecking Ball" continues along with the same intensity and aggression that is found on Five Finger Death Punch songs.
"I'm a motherfucking wrecking ball," singer Ivan Moody screams during the chorus.
The album then slows it down with the first single "Battleborn." This is a power ballad about the band's life on the road. The song shows a softer side of the band while still maintaining their edge. The album then picks back up with the next song "Cradle to the Grave." This is heavy and contains lots of fury and epic double bass drumming. The album keeps things going with "Matter of Time." This song may be the heaviest song on the album, but when most of the songs are so heavy it's hard to tell.
The album changes things up again on the next track "The Agony of Regret." This song starts out with a human heartbeat and then changes into an acoustic beat which gives the listener a small reprieve from the assault of the faster songs. This instrumental song is barely even two minutes and then segues nicely into the next track "Cold." This song starts out with pianos and Moody singing sadly. This song is a remake of a song by Moody's old band Black Blood Orchestra. The song soon picks up the pace and becomes a rocker.
Next up is "Let this Go" which keeps up the band's fast pace and is sure to start many a mosh pit. The chorus of this song is one of the best hooks on the album. It's so catchy and soulfully sang by Moody. "My Heart Lied" is an emotional cut about realizing that a relationship has come to an end and realizing that it wasn't really love. The song features Moody singing predominantly in clean vocals on this track. Next up is "A Day in My Life." The song is a good song but it sounds too similar to the band's other songs and this song has been done better by the band so many times.
The album closes with a cover of the folk song "The House of the Rising Sun." The band start it out as a slow ballad but then it becomes a rocker. Moody's vocals shine on this song, as well as all of the others.
While this album isn't as good as Volume 1, it is still a great record. Five Finger Death Punch always know how to write great songs and make killer albums. Hopefully they never quit or get lame like Otep, All That Remains or In This Moment did.

Butcher Babies Rock Out On Debut Album

Heavy Metal band Butcher Babies released their mosh pit-inducing debut album Goliath last month. The album was preceded by the single "I Smell a Massacre" as well as the band's reputation for being a gimmick, thanks in part to fromwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey. Harvey and Shepherd are known for performing close to naked, with only black duct tape X's covering their nipples. This took away from their credibility as musicians, but with Goliath, this changed. This record is so face meltingly good that no gimmick can undo the greatness of it.
Every song is a rocker and it shows off the duel vocalist's talents. Their screams recall other female fronted band such as Otep, Kittie, In This Moment, Arch Enemy and Straight Line Stitch, while their cleans recall In This Moment, Kittie and Eyes Set to Kill. Most of the clean vocals as well the more growled harsh vocals are done by Harvey and the more high pitched, In This Moment styled screams are done by Shepherd. The music is a mix of classic heavy metal and thrash metal.
The ladies mix in their clean vocals well with their harsh screams on songs like "Magnolia Blvd," "Grim Sleeper" and the single and best song on the album "I Smell a Massacre." However on the title track, which is one of the best songs, the ladies don't sing one clean note. Screaming aggressively over the metal as fuck guitars. This approach is quickly given up on "In Denial" in which the heavenly cleans of Harvey are heard again. Going on to "Give Me Reason" the ladies sound more like Otep than they have on previous songs. The band also rock hard on "The Mirror Never Lies," which like the other songs is heavy as can be. Harvey's cleans on the chorus of this song are perhaps the best cleans on the entire record.
The next song the slower "Dead Poet." Harvey's cleans are the most prominent vocals on the song. "The Deathsurround" is a sonically different song than the rest. The vocals are different here than on other songs. The album closes with a remake of the song "Axe Wound" from their self-titled 2012 EP.
This album is quite possibly one of the best metal albums of the year so far. Butcher Babies have proved that they are much more than a pair of pretty faces. Here's to hoping the band keep up with this for years to come.

Five Finger Death Punch Release Their Best Album

It's been a while but I'm finally back to posting! Five Finger Death Punch released their fourth record ,The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1, last month and it's their best album.
The metal titans have always made good albums filled with aggressive, fast-paced metal songs. However, on their fourth offering, Five Finger Death Punch take that to a new level. From angry anthems like "Watch You Bleed," Burn MF" and lead single "Lift Me Up" which features Rob Halford from Judas Priest to the albums lone slower song "Wrong Side of Heaven," the band tackle these songs with prowess.
From the aggressive screams and beautifully sung cleans of front man Ivan Moody to the harsh guitars and banging drums of the rest of the band, the sound is perfect on this record.
The two best songs on the album would have to be "Anywhere But Here," the duet version with In This Moment singer Maria Brink and "Mama Said Knock You Out," a bad ass, hard rocking cover of LL Cool J's hit which features Tech N9ne.
While songs like "I.M. Sin" and "Dot Your Eyes" are perfect anthems for an angry rampage, the lone bad song is "Diary of a Deadman," a strange spoken word, hot mess of a song.
The disc features three bonus songs which are versions of album cuts with guest vocalists. There is the duet version of "Anywhere But Here" which far surpasses the original and "I.M. Sin" which features Max Cavalera, vocalist for Soulfly. The latter doesn't do anything differently for the song. However the third bonus track "Dot Your Eyes" with Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed is gives the song a new spunk.
As if this record wasn't good enough, Five Finger Death Punch plan to release The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2 later this year.

Butcher Babies Release Great Single From Debut

Metal band Butcher Babies are more known for their sexy female vocalists who often wear nothing but shoes and duct tape on stage released their first single off of their debut album Goliath. "I Smell A Massacre" is the first great song that the band have come out with.
The single has Otep style spoken word mixed with screamed verses and Kittie style sang/screamed chorus. The band had few memorable moments on their self-titled EP.
"Save yourself this is straight war," Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey sing during the chorus.
The music is just your average heavy metal sounding music but the girl's charisma is what makes the song such a turn on. It's catchy and aggressive and in your face.
"I Smell A Massacre" is a great preview of what the band will sound like on their debut. With In This Moment making lame albums and Otep retiring, the metal world needs new queens. Goliath is due for release July 9 on Century Media Records.

Metal goes techno

In This Moment rereleased their fourth record Blood last month exclusively through Hot Topic. The album features a bonus disc of remixes and their cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." Though marked on the package, this isn't on the rerelease.
The bonus disc has some great songs. Sluggo's remix of "Blood" is a great imagination of their hit single. The Mr. Kane remix of "Adrenalize" changes the entire feel of the song. It's got a more fun sound, while staying sexy. The bouncy Nikka Bling remix of "Whore" takes the original song and makes it sound new again. While none of these remixes outdoes the original song's greatness, they do help the listener see the music in a new way. The Mitch Marlow remix of "The Blood Legion" is the remix that stays closest to the original. There is some extra programming added but for the most part this song stays true to the original.
This rerelease isn't as great as when the band rereleased their second album The Dream. This rerelease should keep fans happy and it is sure to convert non-believers of the Blood album.

In Fear and Faith get better with time

Metalcore bands aren't very inventive. There are some bands such as A Day to Remember or In This Moment that switch things up and there are bands Eyes Set to Kill and blessthefall who release basically the same album over and over again. In Fear and Faith's third self titled album fall into the later. Not to say that that is a bad thing.
The album is surely a step up from their second album but it really doesn't do anything different. While songs such as "The Calm Before the Reform" which features David Stephens from We Came As Romans don't reinvent the wheel, they do solidify the band as good musicians.
That being said this album is definitely the best thing In Fear and Faith have done and while it doesn't open new doors for metalcore it does do things for their career.

In This Moment losing too much blood

Metalcore band In This Moment launched their career in 2007 and released three phenomenal albums. With the release of their latest record, Blood, last month the band took a huge step backwards. While several of the songs rank up there with the band's best, this album has some huge problems.
The main problem being that for some reason frontwoman Maria Brink finds the need to do a shitty Otep impression on "Whore" and the single "Blood." Brink doesn't have the screaming chops that Otep Shamaya, frontwoman for Otep has and while these songs are great they aren't as good as the band's older music.
Another issue with this album is the fact that Brink has become lazy in her lyrics. "Shut up, shut up, shut up/Shut up, shut up shut up/Shut up, shut up, shut up/You're gonna listen to what I say this time," Brink screams during the chorus of the catchy yet stupid "You're Gonna Listen." While it's a fun song to listen to the lyrics simply take away from what could have been greatness. The music of the song is similar to their older albums but the lyrics are just ridiculous.
Another song that isn't good is "Burn." It's clunky and tries to hard to be heavy and deep but the lyrics are just silly. "Set me on fire and watch me burn," Brink screams dramatically during the chorus. This song is just silly and Brink seems to be a drama queen.
There are some great moments on Blood. "Whore" features Otep styled rapped verses and a screamed chorus. Brink's clean vocals in the pre-chorus sound heavenly and beautiful. This song is different from other In This Moment songs but it's great. Another highlight on the album is "From The Ashes." From the chugging guitars and gorgeously sung vocals, this song is a winner. It almost sounds like it could have been written for their second album The Dream. "Beast Within" starts out slow with Brink doing spoken word verses before singing the pre-chorus and singing and screaming in the chorus.
Blood has a few great ballads. While the album closer "11:11" is boring slow songs such as "Scarlett" and "The Blood Legion" are gorgeous while mixing in some heavier influences on the second halves of each song.
The best song on this album is by far "Adrenalize," a sexed up rocker featuring Brink seductively singing the verses and screaming the choruses. The song also features a breakdown similar to their Beautiful Tragedy and A Star-Crossed Wasteland albums. The song is a great reminder of what In This Moment have been and hopefully what they will become. The song sound like if Lady Gaga started a metal band, which is not a bad thing.
The album all in all sounds like if Korn didn't suck and were fronted by a woman. While this album is still great, it falls short of topping the masterpiece that was their last album, A Star-Crossed Wasteland. Hopefully the band will stop trying to be something they're not.

In This Moment new single is a nice growth for the band

Metalcore kings and queen In This Moment have a new single coming out next week but it can already be heard online. "Blood," the first single and title track of the band fourth album was put head to head against another band's new song on a rock radio station's website.
"Blood" is nothing like the band's earlier singles or albums. The song is grimy and dirty and frontwoman Maria Brink tries to be both angry and sexy at the same time. Sadly the song is more creepy than Brink would have liked but it's still fantastic. "I'm a dirty, dirty girl," Brink screams during the chorus.
"Blood" also features the band's first foray into dun dun dunnnnnn, electronic music. The synths on the song are not a hindrance to the band. It shows that they are willing to grow. While many fans may call sellout for this since many bands are now doing this but I personally think that it shows that the band are so great that they can take a trend and follow it without making it seem like a desperate plea for attention.
While this single may not be In This Moment's defining song or the best thing they'll ever release it's still a great song that is a good intro to what is sure to be a great new album.
Below is a link to the webpage where "Blood" is currently streaming.
http://banana1015.com/10-years-vs-in-this-moment-cockfight/

In This Moment and Periphery announce new albums

Metalcore kings and queen In This Moment have announced their fourth studio record entitled Blood. The album will be released on August 14. The first video has been shot and the band put on facebook that it is "Insane!" No word yet on when the single will be released.
Progressive Metal band Periphery announed today that their second studio album will be released July 3. No title, single or any details have been announced but this is still exciting news.
Metal fans just got two releases that will make the summer hotter than ever.
Below are videos for "The Gun Show" by In This Moment and "Jetpacks Was Yes!" by Periphery.

Otherwise make generic hard rock sound so good

Hard rock band Otherwise have released their official first record called True Love Never Dies. Everything from the title to the lyrics sound cheesy but the band make a record that works. Lead singer Adrian Patrick sings with such passion that it's hard to not love the album. The band first found fame when Patrick was featured on In This Moment's stellar single, "The Promise." Some of the best songs on the record are "Die For You" and a cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." The later which works in the chorus of Moby's hit "Natural Blues" during the second half of the song.This album are sure to have metal purists disgusted but if you love cheesy hard rock then certainly check out this band and their album. Below is a video for the band's first single "Soldiers."

In This Moment name new album Blood

It may have been over a month ago but today I found out that In This Moment have named their fourth record Blood. They performed a new song called "Blood," this is most likely going to be the new single. The video of the performance was decent quality. It sounds like any other of In This Moment's particularly angry songs. Front woman Maria Brink didn't sing at all during the performance so maybe it's going to be a song with no clean vocals like "The Gun Show" or "Blazin." The song sounds good but the title is simply uninspired. It sounds just like any other band trying to sound hardcore. The lyrics sound silly as well. "I hate you for..." is how Brink begins every line of the first verse, hardly imaginative. However, In This Moment have never had a bad record so here's hoping this record stays on that awesome path. Below is a video of the song "Blood" off of the album of the same name due sometime in the summer, rumor has it August.