Maximum Metal Rating Legend

In This Moment - Beautiful Tragedy - 2007 - Century Media

Track Listing:1. Whispers of October 2. Prayers 3. Beautiful Tragedy 4. Ashes 5. Daddy's Falling Angel 6. Legacy of Odio 7. This Moment 8. Next Life 9. He Said Eternity 10. Circles 11. When the Storm Subsides

When In This Moment were announced as direct support to Devildriver on their recent UK tour, it immediately grabbed my attention. Upon hearing their debut 'Beautiful Tragedy', it's easy to see why they have had such great success in such a short space of time. Currently enjoying a second stage slot on Ozzfest across the States and with an upcoming tour with Megadeath due in September, In This Moment have really made some waves since forming in 2005. Despite being dubbed metalcore, they incorporate a lot more into their songs than your average metalcore band; the huge riffs are there, the melodies are there, but there's something else as well.

Frontwoman Maria Brink gives the band an edge which is missing in a lot of heavy, melodic bands, and in doing so offers a breath of fresh air amongst the current surge of American metalcore. She has an incredibly unique voice which ranges from being blood curdling one minute to truly angelic the next. Combine this with the bands blend of just about every type of metal going, and In This Moment have convincingly come up with a winning formula.

Despite the band combining so many styles of metal in their music, it doesn't seem forced or cluttered in any way. The twin guitar work of Chris Howorth and Blake Bunzel moves between Exodus esque thrash metal riffing, huge double bass drum driven breakdown riffs, and short clean passages in the vein of Killswitch Engage. Many bands attempting to move through different sections of songs in such a way often sound messy and somewhat forced, but In This moment have found a way to make the songs flow, helped in much part, by the no less than astounding vocal work of Brink. She has a scream to rival any metalcore vocalist out there at the moment, and on top of that her clean vocals display such range and power that she can create melodies that you can't help but sing along to. Title track 'Beautiful Tragedy' is a prime example of how Brinks voice flows with the music to offer a great mix of heavy guitar work and soaring melodic vocals. Add to this the spoken passages in many of the songs, and you end up with a great vocal performance throughout the album.

The music itself is an impressive combination of styles and sounds, which creates a very slick sounding LP. Lead off single, and stand out track 'Prayers' kicks off the album with some great thrash riffing, and moves through some huge hardcore style riffs into a fist pumping chorus. This amalgamation of styles can be heard throughout the album, on tracks like 'Ashes' and 'Next Life' and it makes for some serious head banging. Another stand out track; 'Daddy's Fallen Angel', offers us our first guitar solo of the album, a real air guitar moment, as well as probably the heaviest riff the band has to offer in the form of a thunderous break down.

We are treated to some epic Lacuna Coil style melodies and riffs, accompanied by full strings in 'The Legacy of Odio' mid way through the album, proving that In This Moment are capable of pulling off more than just riffing. 'He Said Eternity' is jam packed with layered guitars and dual harmonies which are reminiscent of metalcore titans Killswitch Engage in places and atmospheric enough to be compared to Fightstar in others. Acoustic album closer 'When The Storm Subsides' is yet another example of the range In This Moment have packed into this album.

This is a very impressive debut from a band that has only been together for 2 years. The sound that In This Moment have developed could appeal to a huge range of metal fans, from those who love hardcore style breakdowns to the more melodically inclined listener. 'Beautiful Tragedy' is undoubtedly a very melodic affair, but the heaviness is apparent throughout. A sound buy for any metalcore regular, but there's plenty on offer here to satisfy any hardcore, or thrash fan.


--wils 08.01.07