In This Moment CD ‘Black Widow’

In nature, it is often the female of the species that proves to be the most powerful. Take the example of the black widow spider. The female spider has the larger venom glands and sometimes engages in sexual cannibalism, eating her male partner after mating. In the world of metal, it takes a special kind of female to survive in a very male dominated genre and who better to personify this dominant female than Maria Brink of In This Moment. For their fifth studio album, “Black Widow,” Maria tells the tale of a young girl’s journey from innocence to a dynamic sexual being.

Produced by Kevin Churko, the album is flawlessly done with terrific vocals. The vibe isn’t as heavy as their last outing, “Blood,” as In This Moment once again shows they aren’t afraid to push the envelope with more experimentation into industrial, dance, and even a little rap. The album opens with an intro “The Infection” before blasting into “Sex Metal Barbie” and “Big Bad Wolf.” The title track opens with a clip from a documentary on the black widow spider before taking us on a techno ride. Things get a little poppier with “Dirty Pretty” and “Sexual Hallucination” which features vocals by Shinedown’s Brent Smith. The first single, “Sick Like Me,” has a heavier riff and a bad ass chorus sounding more like something off “Blood” than this current record and is one of the strongest tracks. The piano ballad “The Fighter” is getting a lot of attention and while this song is nicely done it pales in comparison to “Out of Hell.” This stripped down song opens with the sounds of sirens and features Maria over a beautiful piano and really captures the raw emotion of her vocals. It is by far the most intense song on the record. “Out of Hell” may just be the best vocal performance that Maria has ever done.

Some fans will prefer the more metal feel of prior In This Moment albums over the more industrial sounds of “Black Widow” but change isn’t always a bad thing. Give this one a chance and allow Brink to weave her evil web and draw you in.