In This Moment & Black Veil Brides

Throughout history, art rejoices and revels in the wisdom of women.  

Within a deck of tarot cards, the High Priestess serves as the guardian of the unconscious. In  Greek mythology, the old oracles celebrate the Mother Goddess. William Shakespeare posited  portentous prescience in the form of MacBeth’s “Three Witches.” On their sixth full-length album Ritual, In This Moment—Maria Brink [vocals, piano], Chris Howorth [lead guitar], Travis Johnson  [bass], Randy Weitzel [rhythm guitar], and Kent Diimel [drums]—unearth a furious and focused  feminine fire from a cauldron of jagged heavy metal, hypnotic alternative, and smoky voodoo  blues. 

It’s an evolution. It’s a statement. It’s In This Moment 2017… 

“It’s like we’re going into the next realm,” asserts Maria. “I had a conviction of feeling  empowered in my life and with myself. I always write from a personal place, and I needed to  share that sense of strength. I’ve never been afraid to hold back. Sometimes, I can be very  suggestive. However, I wanted to show our fans that this is the most powerful side of myself and  it’s without overt sexuality. It’s that deeper serious fire inside of my heart.” 

“What Maria is saying comes from deep inside,” Chris affirms. “This time, we had a bunch of  ideas started before we hit the studio. There was a really clear direction. It’s different.” 

The group spent two years supporting their biggest album yet 2014’s Black Widow. Upon  release, it seized their highest position to date on the Billboard Top 200, bowing at #8. Simultaneously, it clinched #3 on the Hard Rock Albums chart and spawned a series of hits such as “Sick Like Me,” “Big Bad Wolf,” and “Sex Metal Barbie”—all cracking 8 million Spotify  streams each and topping Rock Radio. Meanwhile, the band’s signature smash “Whore”  crossed the 20-million mark. 

Furthermore, the title track off In This Moment's 2012 album, Blood, has been certified gold by  the RIAA. A remarkable accomplishment, the companion music video for "Blood" has been  viewed over 27 million times. 

Between headline tours, they incinerated stages everywhere from Rock On The Range to  Download Festival. In March 2016, Maria and Chris commenced writing for what would become  the new record with longtime collaborator and multiple GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer  Kevin Churko [Five Finger Death Punch, Ozzy Osbourne] at his Las Vegas compound. 

Following a high-profile summer 2016 tour with Korn and Rob Zombie, the duo began writing.  Then, Maria visited Salem, MA for the very first time with all of the women in her family quite  appropriately during Halloween. 

“We were really tapping the energy there,” she says. “We were honoring each other. I was  seeking inspiration and experience to inspire me in this album. I was trying to find a lot of truth in  myself. I loved Salem. I was blown away by how visually beautiful it is. The history of the witch  burnings is fascinating. It was a special ceremonial journey.” 

Galvanized and inspired, Maria and Chris returned to Kevin’s stronghold to complete recording.  In an atmosphere of candles, crystals, incense, and a cackling fireplace, they expanded their  aural palette once again, welcoming a doom blues bombast into the sonic fold. 

“We love Black Widow, but it was very electronic,” Chris explains. “This is a little more organic,  emphasizing guitars, bass, drums, and vocals. We slowed down the groove a little bit. I got to 

play some slide guitar, and I’ve never done that. There’s a bluesy side, which we’ve also never  had.” 

“We always want to grow and evolve,” Maria adds. “It was a chance to get a little more serious.” 

That progression shines through the first single “Oh Lord.” A minimal drum and handclap  echoes as Maria’s wild incantation takes hold. Guitars shiver and shake as the frontwoman  delivers an undeniable refrain. 

“The meaning of ‘Oh Lord’ is central to the album,” she reveals. “I should be able to have a  relationship with what I perceive God to be. For me, it’s this strength and light. When I was  younger, I felt guilty for thinking of these things. I’m not supposed to touch an oracle card, a tarot card, or these beautiful things, because they’re ‘bad.’ I had these fears in me for a long  

time like, ‘Is this wrong?’ I realized I don’t have to be afraid anymore. There’s a lot of learning  and an awakening in that one.” 

Inverting everyone’s favorite Billy Idol nuptial anthem, “Black Wedding” sees Maria walk down  the aisle of musical madness with none other than Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford. Co written with Stevens, it’s an explosive and enchanting duet. 

“I can’t believe that happened,” beams Chris. “Maria hit up Rob and asked if he was interested.  He jumped right on it. I can’t believe we got him.” 

“Who doesn’t love ‘White Wedding?’,” laughs Maria. “We wanted to do a spin-off that’s creative.  It’s a question-and-answer between me and another voice. The chorus essentially says this isn’t  going to be the opposite of a happy ending! You’re becoming empowered by heartbreak.” 

Chris breaks out the slide on the raging “River of Fire,” while “Witching Hour” dances around the  flames to a new wave-inspired groove and midnight lore as Maria recants, “This idea of me  being burned as a witch in a past life for teaching people to be free.” Elsewhere, “Roots”  practically opens up the earth with its sheer seismic force. 

“Sometimes, I have to go through pain in order to forgive and let go,” she adds. “I love to thank  the hate in people. It’s that sort of energy. I’ll be okay, hold my head strong, push forward, do  what I’ve got to do, and prevail.” 

Simultaneously, In This Moment breathe a dark new life into the Phil Collins’ classic “In The Air  Tonight.”  

“We can’t reproduce what he did in a million years,” she says. “It’s one of the best songs ever.  We did our own interpretation and made it a little more sinister like our ritual.” 

The ritual has begun, and In This Moment ignite a brighter fire than ever before here. 

“When fans hear this, I want them to feel the music, whether they take away sadness, anger, or  happiness,” concludes Chris. “As a kid, I remember listening to records and putting them on  repeat over and over again. I’d love for the world to listen and absorb this as a piece of work.” 

Maria leaves off, “I want everybody to be unafraid of who they are and not worry about what the  rest of society says. Be strong. Be loud. We love our fans deeply. I hope everybody feels that  love and powerful in who they are.”

Formed in 2006, Black Veil Brides originally came together in Cincinnati, Ohio.Primarily the brainchild of vocalist Andy Six, the band combines cathartic metalcore/screamo with a dark, gothic image to set it apart from its contemporaries. In their first couple of years together, Black Veil Brides went through a number of lineup changes while they gained attention from labels with two EPs, releasing Sex & Hollywood in 2007 and Never Give In in 2008. The band eventually relocated to Los Angeles, settling on a lineup and beginning work on its full-length debut. Bringing together guitarist Jinxx (formerly of the Dreaming), guitarist Jake Pitts, bassist Ashley Purdy, and drummer Sandra Alvarenga, the band began to refine its image and sound, touring with groups like Eyes Set to Kill and From First to Last. In 2010 they released their debut, We Stitch These Wounds, on Standby Records. Later that year, Alvarenga left the band and was replaced by drummer Christian "CC" Coma, who made his debut with the band on 2011's Set the World on Fire, which was released on Lava Records. For their third release, Black Veil Brides channeled their gothic image to create the conceptual punk rock opera Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones, which was released in early 2013. ~ Gregory Heaney

DED has only been together a little more than three years since the release of their debut album, Mis-An-Thrope, but it is clear that their take-no-prisoners approach has already turned a lot of heads.

Originating from Phoenix, AZ, the foursome embodies elements of rock, alternative, and metal, with pop melodies, hooks and choruses, cloaked in some of the densest, most histrionic, headbanging music on the planet. But when you dig beneath the aggressive surface, DED’s unexpectedly soulful music is about bringing hope, relief and self-awareness, often speaking to and about the young generations that are contending with many deeply embedded issues in today’s society. Rather than the nihilistic, anarchical hellraisers DED might seem to be upon first glance, they’re actually mythical heroes desperately trying to save society, not take it down. Joe Cotela (vocals), David Ludlow (guitar), Kyle Koelsch (bass), and Matt Reinhard (drums) are building a community by offering comfort in times of despair.

DED takes their role seriously in speaking directly to those who feel betrayed by the system, damaged and exploited, left in a world in which they have to pick up the pieces. The band’s roaring and explosive lead single “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)” and anthemic track “Eyes Sewn Shut,” released together on a micro-EP entitled Mannequin Eyes, display DED’s dynamic songcraft and thought-provoking consciousness.

“The first album was us just being in a place of feeling angry and disappointed with humanity and putting out something that was aggressive. That’s where we were,” shares Joe. “This time around I felt more of a responsibility to really choose my words and find the correct way to say what I wanted to say. The new music is about clarity through suffering, positivity through negativity, and the frustration that comes with knowing that everyone can be better than they are - that I can be better than I am, because change starts with yourself. We want people to strive and try and be conscious of the things they consume, the way they act, the things they share and celebrate, and the way they live their life – to understand how that all affects their soul and what their legacy is going to be. And that goes for myself as well.”

Helmed by powerhouse rock producer Kevin Churko (Five Finger Death Punch, Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed), “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)” and “Eyes Sewn Shut” take the fury of DED’s debut and deepens the emotions. On the incendiary “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby),” DED takes aim at the conveyor-belt music machine and takes on the fake, surface level, vein aspects of our society that have infiltrated our lives and influence our perception of what’s real.

“We grew up with such amazing alternative music that was so unique and left of center,” says Joe. “It was dangerous and stood for something. I don’t remember personally caring about what anyone looked like or if they were pretty. To me, it was about ‘are they interesting, are they doing something unique, are they good?’ And I’m not saying that there’s nothing like that now. There’s plenty of it and we are big fans of all of it, but I think that the music industry has just become very safe and kids are growing up watching this.”

The stark vocal-and-piano open on “Eyes Sewn Shut” swells into a wall of soaring guitars and driving percussion that create aural shocks to the system like the best horror flicks.

“It’s definitely a big sonic avalanche of a track, and hopefully it makes the listener stop and question everything that they deem to be true. It’s about breaking the monotony of the things that a lot of people accept and challenging some of the old and obsolete ways of thinking and living,” explains David.

With Mis-An-Thrope, DED took the rock world by storm, generating over 25 million streams making several Billboard chart appearances including #1 on the Alternative New Artist chart and #3 on the Top New Artist Albums chart. Singles “Anti-Everything” and “Remember the Enemy” reached Top 20 at Active Rock Radio with SiriusXM’s Octane naming DED “Artist Discovery of the Year” and “Anti-Everything” landing in the station’s Top 10 for 2017. The band were also nominated by Loudwire for Best New Artist. “Anti-Everything” also made impressive strides at servicing appearing on Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 twice and various playlists across Apple Music, Amazon, and Pandora.

Touring-wise, DED were featured as special guests on KoRn and Stone Sour’s “Serenity of Summer” tour and lit up festival stages including Aftershock, Louder Than Life, Rocklahoma, Carolina Rebellion, Rock on the Range and Ship Rocked and will be on tour with In This Moment this Spring.

“I’m proud to be making music that hopefully makes people think, pulls them out of ruts or makes them feel empowered, makes them better themselves, or want to start their own band or use their own voice or express themselves in their own way. It’s a circle, and I know because I got caught in that circle because of the people who were doing it before me,” concludes Joe.

DED, who are quickly becoming one of rock’s most exciting torchbearers, blaze their own trail as they cathartically stare down various beasts - both existential and innate - proving that there’s a way to live through the struggle and come out stronger, happier, and more aware of how we look after ourselves and each other.