IN THIS MOMENT | Mother | Album Review

Since the mid-2000's, In This Moment has gradually attained success, which isn't easy for a band that came from that time frame. Led by vocalist Maria Brink and initially gaining underground attention with "Beautiful Tragedy", which was released by Century Media in 2007, that attention became more widespread with each release until they seriously broke out with 2012's "Blood". Now, as they arrive at their seventh studio album "Mother", they are one of the premier female-fronted bands working today. In This Moment is the kind of band that is hit or miss for some people, which is crazy considering Maria Brink claims that the fanbased has reached an alarmingly wide range of people, from seven year olds to people in their seventies. What I'm trying to elaborate is that their gimmick is not for everyone, and I am on the side that has been a bit oppositional of them. Nothing that this band has put out has ever wowed me or interested me aside from a couple of songs, paricularly on "Blood". With this new album "Mother", though, there is a little ambition involved which is something that has been taken advantage of with previous albums from the band. Maria brink has stated that the title of the album derives from the fact that "Mother is the key to life". As vague of a statement of that is, that concept can take any album to a higher level, but here's the question. Will it actually reach that level or will they crash and burn?

The album opens up with a short intro entitled "The Beginning" before getting into a cover of Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like An Eagle", and it's odd that an album that's supposed to be comprised of original material is starting out with a cover. I have no idea what "flying like an eagle" has to do with the concept of this album but as an overall song, I don't think this is that bad. This remake of the song sounds like glorified movie trailer music for an action movie, and this angle does work okay. It's nothing great, but again, there is nothing off-putting about it except for the fact that it's a cover song being used as an opening track, and it is one of three cover songs present on this album. And two songs are interludes placed right at the beginning of the album. So, overall, you have nine songs that the band wrote for "Mother". The single "The In-Between" comes after the interlude track "The Red Crusade", and this song really isn't that special. It's the typical sort of track you'd get from In This Moment, with Maria Brink's average vocal delivery that isn't particularly pleasing to me. You listen to this song and you can't help but shrug your shoulders because it's not giving you much to work with and enjoy. It isn't bad, but it's kinda vapid and forgettable to be honest. And those are the words I can apply to a good majority of the other songs on this album as well.

I don't want to say that there wasn't effort in this album, because I'm pretty sure that In This Moment and the other members of the band were trying to do something, and there are glimmers of that placed throughout, but overall what they're attempting doesn't hit the mark for me. I stated that the cover of "Fly Like An Eagle" felt like it was tailor-made for action or sci-fi movie trailer music if the vocals were stripped out. That's an element that is present in much of this music. It sounds big and ethereal, but there isn't much that jumps out at you as you listen, and you just end up feeling bored by it. Songs like the title track, "Born In Flames", "God Is She", and many others are songs that you listen to once and you instantly forget what you've just heard and that's not a good sign. Then, there's the fact that this album relies on cover songs, and it really takes you out of the album as a whole. The cover of "We Will Rock You" is a mess. This feels like an afterthought session where Brink got Lzzy Hale and Taylor Momsen to have a Queen karaoke party, kind of like that "Drake And Josh" episode where they all sing "We Will Rock You" at the end of it. Then, there are songs like "As Above So Below" and "Lay Me Down", which feature that typical Kevin Churko production style with fake sounding drums and muddy guitars. It doesn't help either that these songs are generically written and have cliches that we've heard many times before. As far as the band's attempt to make something cohesive and smooth, I don't exactly think it panned out as well as they thought.

This band does deserve credit where it's due. Some of the hooks do connect decently in certain tracks. For example, "Holy Man" actually feels like there was some legit effort put into it, and the guitars aren't that bad on this one. "Legacy" fits right along with that idea, as it's the closest this album gets to having something that grans your attention and is interesting. Then, there is "Hunting Grounds" with Joe Cotela of Ded, and I think this is where the album does have a bit more appeal. It's probably the highlight track out of this entire album, and the two vocalists play off of each other decently. But, even with these songs, there is a LOT better out there, and these highlights won't keep you interested for long. Maybe it's simply due to the fact that this band simply isn't my thing, but this album proves that wholeheartedly, and it's not just a matter of bias either. It's just that "Mother" doesn't flow that well and most of the tracks are highly forgettable. Not awful by any means, becasue this year has had WAY worse albums, but nothing great. It's average and at times empty music by a band that I am not a fan of. Overall, "Mother" has a decent sales pitch from the band and you can tell that In This Moment cared about their seventh studio album, but the final product isn't really worth caring about. You might like this if you're a longtime fan, but even in saying that, this album isn't the key to life as much as it is the key to disinterest.

RATING: 5/10

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