In This Moment
In This Moment is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005. They found drummer Jeff Fabb and started the band as Dying Star. Unhappy with their musical direction, they changed their name to In This Moment and gained two band members, guitarist Blake Bunzel and bassist Josh Newell. In 2005, bassist Newell left the band and was replaced by Jesse Landry.
Their debut album, Beautiful Tragedy, was released in 2007. Their follow up, The Dream, was released the following year and debuted at number 73 on the Billboard 200. The band's third album, A Star-Crossed Wasteland, was released in 2010, and their fourth album, Blood, was released in 2012 and debuted at number 15. Their fifth album, Black Widow, was released in 2014 and debuted at number 8, their highest chart position to date. Ritual, their sixth album, was released in the summer of 2017 and debuted at number 23. Their seventh studio album, Mother, was released in 2020. Their eighth album, Godmode, was released in 2023.
The band's lineup has changed several times. Landry was replaced by Kyle Konkiel in 2009 and Konkiel was replaced by Travis Johnson in 2010. Jeff Fabb and Blake Bunzel left the band in 2011, and were replaced by Tom Hane and Randy Weitzel respectively. In March 2016, drummer Tom Hane announced his departure from the band and was replaced by Kent Diimmel, formerly of 3 by Design.
In This Moment has received two Alternative Press Music Awards nominations, including two for Best Hard Rock Artist and one for Best Live Band. They have also received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. The band has five singles and an album certified Platinum and Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. They have performed on several notable tours and festivals including Ozzfest in 2007 and 2008; Warped Tour in 2009; Download Festival in 2009, 2013, and 2018; Mayhem Festival in 2010; Music as a Weapon V tour in 2011; Uproar Festival in 2012; Rock on the Range in 2012, 2013, and 2015; Carnival of Madness tour in 2013; Knotfest in 2014; Rockfest and Rocklahoma in 2015; Carolina Rebellion in 2018; Louder Than Life in 2017 and 2019; Aftershock in 2014, 2017, and 2021; Welcome to Rockville in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019; and Knotfest in 2022.
History
Formation and ''Beautiful Tragedy'' (2004–2008)
In 2004, singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth met through an audition. Howorth initially rejected Brink because she was a woman, but eventually accepted her as the singer of the band. Soon thereafter, they enlisted the help of Los Angeles drummer Jeff Fabb and formed the band Dying Star. After two shows, Howorth departed from the band to focus on other projects. Brink encouraged Howorth to return to the band. Howorth returned and they agreed to try something new with the band. The band eventually changed their name to In This Moment. By mid-2005, the lineup included Brink, Howorth, Fabb, guitarist Blake Bunzel, and bassist Josh Newell. The band recorded demos and posted them on MySpace. In late 2005, Newell departed from the band to focus on his work in music production. Producer Pascual Romero was then the bassist for a time before a friend of the band Jesse Landry was eventually tapped to round out the band permanently. Rob "Blasko" Nicholson, the bassist for Ozzy Osbourne, became the band's manager after discovering them through MySpace.By the end of 2005, In This Moment had generated a fanbase through internet marketing and do-it-yourself touring. This sparked interest from Century Media Records, and a worldwide record deal followed. The band released their debut album Beautiful Tragedy on March 20, 2007, backed by the singles "Prayers", and title track "Beautiful Tragedy". The album was produced by Eric Rachel and combined sounds of metalcore and hard rock while the lyrics drew from Brink's personal experiences about abandonment and tragedies. The vocals on the songs alternate between Brink singing and screaming. The band performed on several tours including The Hottest Chicks in Metal Tour 2007 with Lacuna Coil, Ozzfest in 2007 and 2008, Megadeth, and the Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne tour. They recorded a cover of Lacuna Coil's "Heaven's a Lie" with the band Manntis as part of "Century Media Records's Covering 20 Years of Extreme cover album.
''The Dream'' (2008–2009)
In This Moment released their second album named The Dream on September 30, 2008. The album received mostly positive reviews and marked the band's debut on the Billboard 200, debuting at number 73. The album was produced by Kevin Churko and featured a less heavy approach, with a bigger focus on clean vocals from Brink. The song "Forever" was released as the album's lead single. To support the release, the band went on tour with Five Finger Death Punch, Mudvayne, Papa Roach, and Filter. They also appeared on the Give It a Name tour in the UK and were on the 2009 Warped Tour line-up, playing on the Ernie Ball Stage. They also played at Download Festival 2009 on the second stage. A cover of Blondie's "Call Me" was released as the second single from The Dream. The cover appears on the special edition, titled The Dream: Ultraviolet Edition to coincide with Warped Tour, which included unreleased tracks and acoustic performances.The band embarked on their first headlining tour titled A Winter to Remember Tour, bringing along In Fear and Faith, Agraceful, and Motionless in White as support.
''A Star-Crossed Wasteland'' (2009–2011)
In 2009, Maria Brink and Chris Howorth announced that the band has begun writing for the next album, citing it to be darker and heavier. Brink revealed the album title A Star-Crossed Wasteland on her official site in February 2010. Maria Brink was named the Hottest Chick in Metal at the Revolver Golden God awards in April 2010. A Star-Crossed Wasteland was released on July 9, 2010, for Europe, and July 13 for the U.S. The album's first single, "The Gun Show" was released to iTunes on June 1, 2010. The album sold 10,500 copies, debuting at number 40. The album's second single, The Promise, was released on September 28, 2010. The song was originally supposed to feature Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch but due to business issues, Moody was not able to record vocals for the song. Producer Kevin Churko eventually enlisted Adrian Patrick to be featured on the song.The band played Rockstar Mayhem Festival 2010 alongside Korn, Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Hatebreed, Shadows Fall and other bands. On September 24, 2010, In This Moment officially released a video for the single "The Promise", shot and directed by David Brodsky. On November 21, 2010, it was announced that In This Moment would play alongside Sevendust, Disturbed and Korn in the Music as a Weapon V tour.
Soon after Music as a Weapon, the band went on another headlining tour titled the Hell Hath No Fury Tour, along with Straight Line Stitch, System Divide, and Sister Sin. The band was also part of the All Stars Tour along with acts such as Emmure, Alesana, Iwrestledabearonce, Blessthefall, For Today, Born of Osiris, Motionless in White, Sleeping with Sirens, among others.
Departure of Bunzel and Fabb, ''Blood'', and ''Blood at the Orpheum'' (2011–2014)
In 2011, In This Moment parted ways with longtime manager Rob "Blasko" Nicholson. Also in 2011, In This Moment announced they were working on new material for a new album hoping for a 2012 release. This release was recorded without founding members Jeff Fabb and Blake Bunzel, who were both working with James Durbin as of September 2011. In November 2011, In This Moment took part in the ShipRocked music cruise alongside Candlebox, Hinder, Filter, Sevendust, Buckcherry, Queensrÿche, and many more. On May 14, 2012, it was announced that the band's fourth studio album Blood would be released on August 14, 2012. Blood was released as the album's first single on June 12, 2012, and the album artwork and track listing followed on June 18, 2012. Both the single and album were certified Gold, with sales of 500,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of America in early 2017.In March 2012, the band played some shows in Australia for the Soundwave Festival. Later in 2012, they went on to support Shinedown and Papa Roach on their U.S. headlining summer tour. The band has also appeared on the 2012 Uproar Festival, the 2012 ShipRocked music cruise, and the 2013 Carnival of Madness tour.
On February 1, 2013, Adrenalize was released as the album's second single. A music video for the song was released on April 9, 2013. On April 16, 2013, In This Moment announced on Facebook that they would be filming their first concert DVD at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wisconsin. The show was filmed on May 21 and features a special stage setup, costume changes, props, and dancers. This show also marked the first appearance of the Blood girls on stage. The setlist composed heavily on Blood. In December 2013, Whore was released as the album's third and final single, along with a music video. Blood at the Orpheum was released on January 21, 2014, and features interviews with Maria along with behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage. The film was directed by Brad Golowin and the live audio was mixed and mastered by producer Kevin Churko.
In the fall of 2013, the band headlined The Hellpop Tour with Motionless in White, West Hollywood heavy metal ensemble All Hail the Yeti, and Kyng. A second leg resumed in early 2014 with Butcher Babies, Devour the Day, All Hail the Yeti and Los Angeles melodic metal quartet Before the Mourning.
''Black Widow'' and ''Rise of the Blood Legion'' (2014–2016)
On February 5, 2014, they announced that they had left Century Media and have signed with Atlantic Records, which will release their fifth album and first with a major label. They also revealed that they were set to enter the studio on February 23 to begin recording their fifth studio album and follow up to Blood. Chris Howorth said, "We have a bunch of ideas and the way we did Blood was different than we'd done any album before. We brought ideas and pieces and parts into the studio and wrote each song in the studio, one at a time. All the other albums we had the songs formatted and together already. So we're going to do the same thing again. We're gonna try to replicate the magic of Blood and try to take the style and sound we had for Blood and just do it bigger and better while still keeping true to that same vibe. That's our sound. We feel like we found something and want to stick the flag in the ground on top of that hill."The first single, "Sick Like Me" from the band's album, Black Widow, was released on September 9, 2014. The album, produced by Kevin Churko, was released on November 17, 2014. The album's second single, "Big Bad Wolf" was released along with a music video. The album's third single, "Sex Metal Barbie" was released along with a music video. To support the release, the band performed at Knotfest on October 25, 2014 before headlining the Black Widow Tour, which kicked off on October 26, 2014, and concluded on December 14, 2014, with Starset, Twelve Foot Ninja, and 3 Pill Morning as the opening acts. The Black Widow shows presented a more elaborate stage show featuring a new set, props, and choreography. Throughout 2015, the headline tour resumed in Europe and the U.S, followed by supporting slots for Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch and Godsmack. The band made their network television debut on a season 2 episode of TNT's Murder in the First, which premiered on June 8, 2015. To mark the 10th anniversary of the formation of the band, on May 4, 2015, Century Media released Rise of the Blood Legion: Greatest Hits , a compilation album including songs from the band's four releases with the longtime label.
On March 16, 2016, Drummer Tom Hane announced his departure from the band, citing creative and artistic unhappiness. The band replaced Hane with Kent Diimmel, the drummer from 3 by Design. On June 18, 2016, the band kicked off The Hellpop 2016 Tour with openers Hellyeah, Sunflower Dead, and Shaman's Harvest before joining Rob Zombie and Korn for their summer tour.