This month, one of the biggest metal acts drops a new record into our laps, the new darker, sexier, sicker Black Widow by In This Moment. The visually stunning act has returned with an album dripping with a dark energy, wanting to sidle up close, whisper somethings into your ear, then make you fall in love while it bleeds you dry from the fangs in your neck. It’s catchy, and sees a fair return to their earlier offerings like Beautiful Tragedy. The beauty of the Black Widow pales to its deadly grace…
To my ears, In This Moment has always had that strong positive message for people who were different, and many times women. This is awesome! I always had different tastes in music and life when I was a kid in school, and people never saw what I did when they looked into the shadows. ITM carries the message that that’s fucking awesome, keep being you! They were heavy, had a beautiful singer, and covered Call Me by Blondie. What’s not to love? they released Dream, still pretty happy with it. And then they had A Star-Crossed Wasteland and Blood. to my ears, they sucked. Pure radio trash meant to sell albums, and cash in on Maria Brink‘s (Singer) looks, a neutrally “heavy” sound, and grease slick production. They had no substance, and I quickly stopped listening. THis all changed upon seeing the video for Sick Like Me off the new album, Black Widow.
To start, the album opener, Infection, really kicks of this album in a different way, as it uses ambient noise in the way of Black Noise and Industrial, coupled with the stings from Texas Chainsaw Massace (I swear), to get pretty intense before it rolls into the first track, Sex Metal Barbie. The this song, and the album as a whole, really have a an older In This Moment vibe, going back to the heavier sound they had with Beautiful Tragedy, mainly a more clean sound instead of something like Daddy’s Falling Angel. It has a darkness, that while very welcome in light of the last couple releases, also has an upbeat note and positive message. From SMB, the album does their kind of trademark pattern of clean, scream, clean, with some soft, emotional songs thrown in to capture all the monies. THe album itself is solidly ITM, but it has far more bite than the previous two albums I previously named, combined. Of particular note are Sick Like Me, Big Bad Wolf (do not watch the video unless you want useless, confusing semi-NSFW epilepsy), and Bloody Creature Poster Girl. The album doesn’t break any records or really earn any rewards to me, but it’s just better than what In This Moment has been putting out. Its aggressive, its dirty, its empowering, and it’s fun to listen to. It’s slightly ahead of middle of the pack, but I’ll listen the whole way through.
Their sound has changed a bit, in that they like to use less lead, and they have added quite a bit of digital to their sound. They are pretty much the metal equivalent of Lady Gaga, without the dumb political views. The visuals for their videos, for this album, like to key in on shock and a horror angle, showcasing a lot of tantalizing skin and juxtaposition within the horror theme. They want to shock and arouse, and for the most part succeed. It’s the aforementioned video for Big Bad Wolf that really kind of strays into dumb. Here it is in all its ADHD glory. Its just a bit horrendous.
If you love In This Moment, get it. If you love extreme metal, probably not going to like it. Regardless, I recommend the album because it’s showing effort, and it’s just really fun.
Available wherever fine music is sold!
