In This Moment: THE GODMODE TOUR

With a Grammy nomination (“The In-Between,” 2021), platinum and gold record sales, multiple Top 25 entries on the Billboard Top 200 (“Black Widow” and “Ritual”), hits including “Whore,” “Blood,” and ”Adrenalize” and career streams of more than 1.3 billion, you’d think In This Moment might rest on their laurels. Instead, they’ve created GODMODE, 10 dynamic songs that mark a new high for the quintet, further cementing their legacy in the heavy music world. Proof
positive is in GODMODE’s first single, the industrial-heavy yet ultra-melodic “THE PURGE,” and its darkly cinematic video directed by Jensen Noen (Bring Me The Horizon, Demi Lovato). From the portentous start of the ‘90s-tinged “GODMODE” with Maria Brink’s powerful primal scream to the pitch-perfect cover of Bjork’s 1995 “Army of Me” to the impassioned pain to partnership in “EVERYTHING STARTS AND ENDS WITH YOU,” GODMODE is a cut above.

The L.A.-based band’s eighth album finds vocalist Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth writing the most powerful songs of their career. “We’re always striving for reinvention and growth. It’s been 10 years since our Blood album, and there's been a lot of transitions happening, this year particularly, but it all felt so meant to be,” explains Brink.

Top talent aided and abetted In this Moment; Spencer Charnas from Ice Nine Kills guests on the pointed and pained “DAMAGED,” and several songs were co-written with Tyler Bates, the award-winning producer and composer of numerous film, television, and video game scores. In fact, the initial collaboration with Bates, the moody, haunting mid-tempo winner “I WOULD DIE FOR YOU” ended up both on the John Wick: Chapter 4 soundtrack and as the last cut on
GODMODE.

In This Moment, a touring juggernaut who’ve slayed stages worldwide at Ozzfest, Warped Tour, Download, Knotfest and Rocklahoma, put out Mother in 2020, during the pandemic, giving fans something to hold on in during that bleak time, and earning “The In-Between” the band’s first Grammy nod. It was 2021 when Howorth and Brink first wrote with Bates on “I WOULD DIE FOR YOU.” Following that collaboration, the duo were writing organically, for pleasure, not focused on the next album. As the pandemic waxed and waned, Howorth learned programming, and created music around synthwave sounds, which Brink leaned into. Her lyrical ideas arose both from soul-searching and “humanity and so much crisis and so many heart-wrenching things in the world. That negativity and darkness is how songs like ‘THE PURGE’’ came about,”
Brink explains.

The end result is that when In This Moment went into the studio in January 2023, the easy flow had allowed them to compile the most songs they’d ever written at one time, songs the entire band loved. Longtime producer Kevin Churko helped shape ITM’s sound starting in 2008, but for GODMODE, his son, Kane Churko, was at the helm. “Kane’s got all the strengths that his father taught him--everything, all the bells and whistles, but he's got some new tricks because
he's a younger generation, he’s hungry,” says Brink.

Kane was the perfect match for In This Moment’s inspired songs “During the pandemic, just writing versus writing with a pressure that music has to be for an album, allowed us the freedom to make the record we made,” says Howorth.

GODMODE’s songs gained even more strength in the studio, with Kane shaking up the band’s usual m.o. even further. “Having some songs by Tyler influenced us as well,” Brink explains. “It was scary for the band, but it ended up flowing just so beautifully. We felt very experimental.”

That flow gave the album its name and theme. GODMODE isn’t religious, rather it’s an expression for a triumphant flow state where all comes together seamlessly, coalescing into an ultimate form. As Brink sings in “GODMODE,” “You got me feeling so high / You lift me off of my feet yeah / You got me feeling like, feeling like / I’m in Godmode.” In video games – Howorth plays the game “Destiny” – “God mode” also refers to a code that makes a player invincible.

“There’s a spontaneity in this album that you can hear. It's a little more visceral. And that we're not with Kevin, who has done all our albums except for our very first, fans will hear those differences too, which is really cool and exciting for us,” Howorth says.

“We had all this built-up energy from the last three years, we felt angst, we felt we had a lot to release,” furthers Brink. “And we were letting it loose organically, while also playing with different time signatures and interesting things like that.”

“We use an 8-string on the album, which we haven't done before,” Howorth says. “We did some different tunings, and it can definitely be freeing from guitar standpoint, the way we did things this time. Working with Kane was different and more off the cuff, being in the studio, getting creative and just trying a bunch of different stuff on every song. It was a really good experience.”

As fans of Brink’s lyrics know, life in and around In This Moment hasn’t always been easy. As Brink recalls, “When I met Chris, I was just a starry-eyed girl with huge dreams. And he was in a Pantera-like metal band!” She told Howorth she wanted a heavy lineup that could sell platinum and win Grammys. The band had an early manager who told them it would never happen. But his dismissiveness only fueled In This Moment’s fire, energy and fight. “We’re just relentless,” says Brink. “Anything's possible if you really put your mind and energy into it.”

For GODMODE, that energy also went into the “THE PURGE” video, where director Noen brought his artistry and next-level talent to Brink’s storyboard ideas. The larger-than-life video themes and sets have been translated into In This Moment’s live stage show, literally. And summer 2023 saw the band on its first arena co-headlining tour with full pyrotechnics. “Our whole lives we’ve talked about being in an arena and having fire and a full show,” Brink says. “And now we're doing it and it's just so beautiful.”

In this Moment certainly have nothing to prove, the lineup’s authority assured live on record and onscreen. Yet, GODMODE’s energy and scope is visceral. “With our new ideas and excitement and Kane’s energy of wanting to prove himself to everybody, we were able to show that we're heavy and just as impactful as every other new band coming out right now,” says Howorth. “We can punch you right in the face, that energy is in there big, time. I think our fans are really gonna like this album, because it’s taken us back a little bit where it began, but it’s also more instinctive, and heavier than anything we've done a long time,” concludes Howorth.

Brink, a private person, nonetheless gives and takes much strength from ITM’s millions of fans. The healing is on both sides. “It’s amazing if my songs help people feel empowered. When humans share painful things that we went through and how we heal from it, we can help each other and pass that energy on,” she says. “Honestly, the most beautiful thing about being in a band is being able to have that connection with strangers who become kindred spirits. Sure, I have urges to wear ‘masks’ and hide from everything and wear makeup, but I like to share and be honest and vulnerable. The sky's the limit,” Brink concludes. “You just have to keep dreaming, keep expanding, keep pushing yourself to that next level. I feel like something is shifting right now in the band; this is such a special moment for us with GODMODE.”

Surfacing from the flesh-eating diseases and torrential wildfires of Australia, Kim Dracula has arrived to create turbulent, creative art that mirrors the chaotic world around us. On the track “Make Me Famous”, we reach a gluttonous feast of violence, chaos and satire. In addition to being extreme and multi-faceted lyrically and visually, “Make Me Famous” dwarfs Dracula’s previous musical output by abrasively combining multiple styles, composed instrumentally by Kim Dracula themselves, including metal, industrial, jazz, trap and Latin music in a single song without flying off the rails. Dracula’s latest release “Drown” is a more melodic song that packs the same eclectic punch they’re making a name for, fusing styles such as post hardcore with synthwave, industrial, edm and metal. Between their musical composition, extreme visuals, and lack of desire to fit into any specific box, Dracula is earning a devoted following in all different communities, changing the future of music as we know it.

I See Stars perfect a push-and-pull between sweeping hard rock, metallic energy, and electronic dance music on their fifth full-length album, Treehouse [Sumerian Records]. In order to achieve that often illusory balance, the Warren, MI quartet—Devin Oliver [clean & unclean vocals], Brent Allen [lead, rhythm guitar], Jeff Valentine [bass], and Andrew Oliver [vocals, keys, synths, programming, drums]—rebuilt their very foundation, creatively and personally.

“This is the most time we’ve had to create an album since 3D,” Devin admits. “We actually had time to reflect on our past, but most importantly what we want to become. Beyond the music, it felt like an evolution for us emotionally. We finally feel like the band we were meant to be. If you strip it down, it’s not just drums, guitar, bass, vocals, and minor production. The electronic aspects could be their own songs, and we aim to blend everything as seamlessly as possible.” “We went into making this record mindfully,” he admits. “It’s important to deliver the live performance as close to the album as possible. I wanted to step up. I had no idea what a challenge it would be; it was like learning a different language.” “We’ve had so many changes, and it’s an important time,” he goes on. “When we got back on stage, I had no idea what to expect, but our fans came out and showed love when we needed it the most. We wanted to give them what they deserve, which is the best record possible.” In order to achieve that vision, the musicians took a different route. To record Treehouse, they enlisted a cadre of producers including Erik Ron [Panic! at the Disco, Saosin], Nick Scott [Asking Alexandria, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!], and Taylor Larson [Periphery, Veil of Maya] as well a mixing by David Bendeth [Paramore, Breaking Benjamin]. They would also track the bulk of material in Los Angeles—another first—and the rest in Detroit.

“Lyrically, this one discusses family issues,” continues Devin. “The past year has been really hard. I realized I’m on my own, and it’s do or die with this band. It’s my life.” It’s that honesty which will continue to resonate the loudest among listeners and why I See Stars shine. “This is the most honest we could be,” Devin leaves off. “That’s what I want people to see.”

We can die many times. The process of creativity and life, is one of death and rebirth - constantly happening over and over again. Whether it’s an actual death, or just a shift in perspective, that cycle is forever continuing. Sometimes you must die inside, in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself to become a new person.

We are all dead here.