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Review Summary: The Maria Brink led outfit go old school, mixing heavy riffs and dance beats in a really unexpected yet satisfying way. In This Moment are a band I know little about. The extent of my knowledge is Maria Brink, whom has performed guest vocals for many of my favourite bands.
I heard that In This Moment were going to release this new album, "Ritual" so I figured I would give it a chance, and heard the first single "Oh Lord"
Upon first listen, I enjoyed it, bar a few production issues which I will explore later. The track starts with a kick- snare drum beat with lingering cowbell as the chugging guitars swell in just below Maria's vocals. It reminded me a lot of the Nico Vega song "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" if Korn had covered it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but its a really strong vibe you will get with the track and this album.
The album also has a surprising guest appearance by Judas Priest singer Rob Halford on the song "Black Wedding" but his performance, whilst solid, is underplayed by the dance beat and catchy riffs. His duets and harmonies with Maria are really good, and he really fits the idea of the track, a dark, creepy wedding.
A cover song "In the Air Tonight" is on the album as well. The bands take on the track is certainly interesting, its very brooding, dark yet very grandiose as well near the end. The song continues to swell throughout its running time until around the last minute or so, as all the instruments explode into a massive crescendo finale.
Other standout tracks for me include:
Half God, Half Devil
River of Fire
The band does a really good job of mixing dance beats and heavy riffs, to the point where songs like "Joan of Arc" could be club hits.
The album has a very dark, town of Salem vibe in terms of its sound, artwork and extra instrumentation ( such as the jaunty piano sample introducing the track "Black Wedding") which is on point with singer Maria Brink's visit to Salem, MA. Witchcraft and religion are slipped in very metaphorically, the condiments instead of the main dish if you will.
The only issue I really have with the album is the production on the vocals, I get the idea they were trying to go for an old-school broken speaker vibe, but in practise (especially at the bridge of the song "Oh Lord") all that has resulted in some irritating clipping of Maria's vocals, especially when she's screaming. Thankfully it doesn't last too long though.
Otherwise, the production on this album is solid. The drums are easy on the ears, the guitar tone is actually really awesome, and the bass provides a solid foundation, despite an initial lack of highlights. When the old timey mixing isn't present, Maria's voice is very prevalent and sounds amazing.
Given this is my first real foray into In This Moment, I am a fan of this album, but if you're looking for the kind of campiness that comes from songs like "Sex Metal Barbie", it is no where to be found here.
Favourite tracks:
River of Fire
Joan of Arc
Black Wedding
| other reviews of this album |
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Awful Phil Collins cover. It was bad and they should feel bad.
| | | Album Rating: 2.0
^yep, and it's not like they even did anything new with the song. like, what's the point? if you're not going to make it your own, i don't want to hear the same song but with your shit vocals over it.
play that shit live and keep it off your album.
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congrats you still can't write a half-decent review!!!
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Not gonna mince words this review is awful.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Congratulations you STILL can't write a half-decent constructed critique
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Oh, boy does this suck.
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"Awful Phil Collins cover."
I saw it on Youtube and thought the title seemed odd. Bad decision to click. I really liked their first two albums so seeing them continue to put out Manson-wannabe electro junk is a little upsetting. :/
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i would give you a critique on this review but
You just say certain songs are good and then don't say why
read my ATR review and tell me that again
Not to sound like a dick but you're review is kind of poor. It seems like it was a written in a bit of a half-assed manner rather than being thought out. Itd be fine if this was rym but people expect more from reviews here.
Not to sound like a dick but your comment is kind of poor. It seems like it was written in a bit of a half assed manner rather than actually offering any kind of critique or improvement advice of any description.
I've simply remarked at the awful quality of your reviews and suggested that you head for the door if you aren't receptive to constructive criticism
I'm gonna keep posting reviews, you've no right to stop me. If you don't like it, well the same door also applies to you, my friend.
people have tried to help, hes not interested in improving. Hes content putting out these middle school tier reviews and shitting up the site with bad content.
You tell me I'm not interested in improving, yet if you look at my first review, then this one, there is an improvement. You cannot deny that.
If I really wasn't interested in writing good reviews, i'd have just said "good" or "shitty" and thatd be the end of it.
I am deeply sorry for not being a fucking music major, who can dissect songs like a frog in biology class, but I'm willing to bet that none of you are either.
Want constructive criticism? Ok, how about this:
1) write longer paragraphs
i believe that's been written already by someone too
2) formulate your thoughts
more to come if i remeber something
"Write longer paragraphs" And fill them with what exactly?
"Formulate your thoughts" I write these as I'm listening to the album. I listen from front to back, then back to front, then listen to songs I felt stand out, then lastly songs I felt less strongly about.
why even bother lmao
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Both the first and fourth paragraphs are throwaway. When Jac said it was like reading a bad wikipedia article, these areas are why. There are ways to work in the names of all the band members and information like their being signed to Sumerian records, this being their x record to date, etc. but listing the information like this is checking off facts in an emotionless, unexciting way. For example, when you want to bring up the band member's names, you can insert them into sentences in which you speak about their contributions.
This line can be adjusted from "which is a big deal considering Adam Warren's gutturals are pretty hard to overpower." to "which is a big deal considering vocalist* Adam Warren's gutturals are pretty hard to overpower." It's not necessary to list off every member of the band, but if you feel like it's needed then just do this. Anyone can google the list of band members and if it's not already in the band's bio here on sput then you can just edit it in yourself.
"The usual tropes of deathcore are ever present, double bass, chugging guitars, breakdowns and immense gutterals blanket the record like snow." why is this left alone as its own paragraph? It could easily be inserted into a larger descriptive paragraph so that it doesn't hinder the flow of the review so much. Also I believe you want to replace the comma after "present" with a semicolon. I forget which is proper to use sometimes between a colon and a semicolon so could be wrong, but it's definitely not a comma.
"This is the first album recorded with Andrew Holzubar on drums and also their first as a 4 piece." here you can drop the second half about it being their first as a four piece as I don't see how it has any real relevance to the content here unless you know something I don't. You should expand on the remaining half of the sentence since again, I don't know how it's relevant. Why is this being Andrew Holzubar's first appearance with the band important? Does it have any effect on the end result?
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"Overall, TLDR, Oceano have delivered another solid release, but I feel its time to shake things up again like Ascendants did." very lackluster finish, a TLDR is basically always a bad idea unless it's a one-off joke.
There are other things to touch on, such as using less "I think x, I like x" sort of lines that tend to be flavorless, but these things are the most glaring faults I saw. There are some fine descriptive lines at the core of the review, so you're not totally flubbing the attempt really. You can smash a few of these paragraphs together and you should look at what your overall focus in the review is rather than checking off what happens. Think about what makes the album work or not work as a whole before you start writing. Mostly it comes down to creating an actual cohesive intro and conclusion to your reviews since they seem to be the major failings, the body paragraphs tend to be much better comparatively. This one for example you basically shoehorn in wiki facts as an intro and a TLDR at the end instead of an actual intro and conclusion.
--all from a fucking STAFF member on this site when you couldn't stop crying about this userbase flaming you instead of giving you constructive criticism
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every time somebody on this site gives you criticism you completely gloss over it and then act like a baby when somebody flings ad-hominems and harmless one-liners at you, followed by complaining about the userbase not giving you criticism when you couldn't be bothered to even take a fucking glance at it
you don't give a shit about getting constructive criticism, you're here just to post shit reviews on a music website and expect to get off scot free
log off forever thx
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Make me. I'm here to stay. I have every right to be here as much as you do. If you really don't like my reviews, DONT. READ. THEM.
| | | Album Rating: 2.0
no one here is saying DON'T contribute, period.
they're saying DON'T contribute if you're not willing to take criticism and show effort and some sort of growth in your writing.
people here ARE saying that you're acting like a petulant child who wants a sticker and hug for every shitty crayon drawing that mommy and daddy put up on the fridge. then you throw a temper tamtrum when you don't get a "wooooow look at you! you're such a big boy, good job!" every time you post the same low-quality work here.
someone needs to be put in time-out
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Second paragraph is missing an ending period pls fix it's bugging me.
| | | Album Rating: 2.0
Reviews 13
Approval 16%
You are the Trump of Sput reviews.
#fakenews #sad!
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
band's first three albums were pretty fun but everything since has been garbage, much like this review.
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"Make me. I'm here to stay" You do know banning people is a thing right. They can get rid of you.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
no need to gang up on him guys, jesus
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I agree Doctor. Some staff members act disrespectful for no reason. I just ignore them now lol. Their "constructive criticism" is an example of this, "this band sucks" "what? That's my criticism!"
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@Devastator
Hello pot meet kettle
XD XD
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