In This Moment – State Theatre – Portland, ME – July 5, 2017
In This Moment achieved their current level of success in the music industry the old fashioned way, they earned it.
The Los Angeles, California based rockers have relentlessly toured, personally interacted with tens of thousands of their devoted fans and when their new album Ritual is released later this month, the band will now have produced six full length LPs in just under ten years.
Starting out with a sound that was more metal core oriented, In This Moment’s music has evolved considerably over the last decade.
Credit the band as well as long time producer Kevin Churko with realizing that they would pigeon hole themselves if they stuck with the scream based vocals and aggressive metal sound they started out with on their debut album, Beautiful Tragedy in 2007.
With the release of their sophomore record in 2008, The Dream, In This Moment began their sonic transformation by releasing an album that was much more aligned with hard rock sensibility than metal.
Although some of their core fan base would label the band as sellouts for abandoning metal core so quickly, the reality is that In This Moment knew they had far more to offer the world musically than just a female voice screaming over some heavy guitar riffs.
The band began to develop a more consistent sound with the release of A Star Cross Wasteland in 2010. Striking a musical balance between aggression and melody while mixing in elements of pop, hard rock and metal is what helped define as well separate In This Moment from nearly all of their contemporaries.
They further cemented their signature sound with the release of the commercially and critically well received Blood in 2012 and Black Widow in 2014, however, the band’s music wasn’t the only thing that underwent a metamorphosis during this time period.
In This Moment’s live shows began to take on the form of a devilish amalgamation of burlesque and Broadway theatrics with the band themselves transforming into almost larger than life graphic novel icons.
The State Theatre in Portland, Maine hosted In This Moment this past week treating their fans to a performance that was almost as unique as the band itself.
Carrying on the tradition of creating a show within the show that acts such as Alice Cooper, King Diamond, GWAR and Rob Zombie have perfected, In This Moment delivered a performance in Portland that captivated those in attendance from the second the band took to the lighted stage.
Elaborate costume changes, stage props that look like they were hijacked from either Bela Lugosi’s estate or the set of the Walking Dead, blood girls menacingly stalking the stage. The band members surrounded by mock grave yards, confetti canons, enormous balloons and oversized glowing orbs were all but a few of the bells and whistles In This Moment used to augment the night’s musical performance.
What mattered most though was the music and the biggest takeaway from the performance had to be the introduction of quite a bit of material from the band’s forthcoming record, Ritual.
In This Moment have never been afraid to take chances and if anything the tracks off of Ritual that were performed proved that fans should continue to expect nothing less.
Gritty, soulful and dark but hopeful themes permeated on songs such as the beyond danceable “Witching Hour,” the crowd interactive “River of Fire” and the bluesy “Oh Lord.”
However, the show stopping moment of the entire evening may very well have been Maria Brink’s performance of the evocative “Lay Your Gun Down.” The slow burning track saw Brink take to the stage initially by herself to play and sing behind a dimly lit piano.
Brink’s vocals on the song were not only mesmerizing, the stripped down raw style she displayed emotionally drew the audience much further into the show in a somewhat unexpected way.
Another highlight of the evening included the duet Brink would go on to perform with Motionless in White lead singer Chris Motionless, “Black Wedding.”
The pair’s divergent singing styles meshed well in ways similar to Brink’s duet with Adrian Patrick of Otherwise on “The Promise,” one of the stand-out tracks from A Star-Crossed Wasteland.
Another poignant moment occurred via the band’s cover of the Phil Collin’s classic “In The Air Tonight.” The track fit nicely into the band’s overall performance as its brooding and slow building nature aligned nicely with the other new material from Ritual that would be played during the night.
In This Moment staples such as show opener “Blood,” “Adrenalize,” “Sick Like Me, “Black Widow” and regular set closer “Whore” all found their way to the set list but it was the new tracks off of Ritual that likely left the biggest impression on most fans.
It would be easy for a band that has paid its dues and developed a devoted fan base like In This Moment to rest on their laurels.
Putting another record out that sonically aligned with Black Widow and Blood would have actually been the safest and most predictable course of action for In This Moment take.
Fortunately, In This Moment are not only way smarter than that, they are also talented and driven enough to proactively continue their evolution.
Much like they had the foresight to move away from their short lived metal core days in an effort to expand their sound, In This Moment seem to want to challenge themselves while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of what’s expected of them.
Add to all of this the fact that Brink, Chris Howorth (lead guitar), Randy Weitzel (rhythm guitar), Travis Johnson (bass) and Kent Diimmel (drums) may just be some of the most genuine people in all of rock and roll, it’s easy to understand why In This Moment continue to be such a polarizing force in the hard rock and metal community today.
Whether we have God or the Devil to thank for the gift that is In This Moment – who knows? What’s not up for debate, however, is the fact that the band continues to raise the bar in the studio and on stage in ways that most of their peers can only hope to emulate. Good luck with that every other band…you’re going to need it.
Connect with In This Moment (click icons):
All writing and photography: Robert Forte (Instagram / Facebook )
