In This Moment - "A Star Crossed Wasteland"

In This Moment
“A Star Crossed Wasteland”
Genre: Modern Metal
Century Media

Aw man, I've been looking forward to this one. In This Moment are one of the most exciting and compelling rock/metal bands in existence today, and they have made a very wise move with their third album. This excellent new disc fuses the heaviness of their debut (“Beautiful Tragedy”) with the melodic elements of their second effort (“The Dream”) to great effect. From the moment that 'The Gun Show' kicks in properly, you know that the band are taking no prisoners this time round.

Maria Brink and the guys have created an album that is extremely well rounded, with enough metallic chaos to satisfy the fans of the first album and enough soaring choruses to thrill those that preferred “The Dream”. “A Star Crossed wasteland” is a lean, fat-free album offering ten new songs that encapsulate everything that is great about In This Moment. You have Maria Brink's incredible vocals, the amazingly tight rhythm section of Jeff and Kyle, the razor sharp guitars of Chris and Blake, the melodies, the riffs, the screams, the machine gun beats- the works.

'Just Drive' is about as perfect an ITM song as it gets, both harsh and heavenly, while 'The Promise' and 'Standing Alone' continue the album's contrasting elements in fine style. The title track is a little more reminiscent of stuff from "The Dream", but this is no bad thing as the balance has been struck perfectly on this album and fans won't be left wondering where the balls went. 'Blazin', 'The Road', 'Iron Army' and 'The Last Cowboy' all display a level of confidence and power that could only have been developed via the band's rigorous touring and dedication to both their art and their fans.

The only weak spot on the album is the closing track, 'World In Flames', as even though it is by no means a bad song, it is a little generic. So finally the people who have doubted In This Moment since they burst onto the scene can be silenced. This is a band that has a long career ahead of them, and a lot more incendiary music to come. It's the perfect length, the perfect balance of styles, and the perfect purchase for any fan.

9.5/10

Comments