IN THIS MOMENT's CHRIS HOWORTH: Making 'Witch' Album 'Has Been Quite A Journey'

In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, IN THIS MOMENT co-founder and guitarist Chris Howorth spoke about the band's ninth full-length offering and debut LP for Better Noise Music, "Witch", which is due on August 28. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, this album, it's been quite a journey 'cause we started out wanting this to be a really experimental, odd time signatures, really heavy, very hard to listen to album. And we went in the studio with our main producer, Kane Churko, and we recorded 12 songs that we thought, at the time we felt like what we wanted to put out. And once we got out of the studio, we were kind of listening back to everything and we realized that maybe we were trying a little too hard and pushing a little too far in certain directions. Our label agreed with us, so we decided to do some more songs. We did three new songs, and we also went back in to some of the songs on that album and redid them a little bit and just kind of worked on 'em a little bit. And at the time, the producer that we originally went in with, Kane, wasn't available, so we had to do these new songs with a new guy. So that added a new kind of flavor to the whole mix. And we ended up doing 'em with this guy named Drew Fulk, who's an amazing producer. He's super hot right now. And they kind of gave it a special energy. And I think once we combined all that stuff together, that's kind of what made the album sound the way it sounds, and have the vibe that it has."

Asked if the first three singles released from the album, "Heretic", "Sleeping With The Enemy" and "Crawl", are representative of what fans can expect from the LP, Chris said: "They definitely are. They've got both guys that produced in there. They're all heavy songs. There are some songs in there that aren't that heavy, just for everyone that maybe doesn't care about the super-heavy stuff. We have some more melodic stuff coming. The next single that we're releasing is 'I Want To Believe', with Rory [Rodriguez] from DAYSEEKER, and that one's more melodic. And some people will like that, too, I think."

On the topic of whether he would agree with the official press release which called "Witch" the "boldest chapter" in IN THIS MOMENT's musical evolution, Chris said: "Yeah, I would agree with that. We don't wanna sound the same. We tried so hard to be bold that we had to like pull back and not be so bold, with the original songs [that we recorded for this album]. Our producer Kane has those songs somewhere, andnmaybe someday we'll be able to pull 'em out and release them as B-sides, 'cause I know our fans would probably like 'em. But just almost trying too hard to be weird, and you lose kind of the musicality of the whole thing. We had to find that sweet spot."

Asked how he knows when he and his IN THIS MOMENT bandmates have "gone too far in one direction or not far enough in another", Chris said: "I don't think you know as much until you listen back. Sometimes you can tell right off the bat with something. But Maria's [Brink, IN THIS MOMENT vocalist] always afraid to have too much heavy stuff at first, and that always kind of goes layered on afterwards in her world. And in my world I'm always — the heavy's always the main, what starts it. And that's where it kind of revolves around, so we're always kind of pulling that up and down in the thing. But a lot of times we don't know until after the fact, and then you're just, like, 'I don't like that,' or, 'That's not good.' And that's tough to say to yourself sometimes."

"Witch" features guest appearances from DAYSEEKER for "I Want To Believe"; Kim Dracula for "Heretic"; and Kat Von D for a cover of the PINK FLOYD classic "Another Brick In The Wall".

"'Witch' is my declaration of inner transformation," Brink previously said. "It's about embracing the duality within — taking pain, persecution, and struggle — and alchemizing them into strength and power. The album reflects both ancient trials and my own journey — where being a 'witch' means being a creator, connected to the universe, manifesting my own reality."

IN THIS MOMENT teased this chapter with "Sleeping With The Enemy". Beyond reeling in over one million streams, it earned critical acclaim. Rock Sound hailed it as "blistering," and Revolver plugged its power.

"Witch" track listing:

01. Shame
02. I Want To Believe (feat. DAYSEEKER)
03. Crawl
04. Into The Dark
05. Sleeping With The Enemy
06. Wrapped Around Your Finger
07. Heretic (feat. Kim Dracula)
08. Father
09. Without Me There's No You
10. Another Brick In The Wall (feat. Kat Von D)
11. Something I Can Never Have

Since coming to life in 2005, IN THIS MOMENT has presided over a diehard fan base under the watch of "mother" figure and aforementioned Brink — joined by co-founder and lead guitarist Chris Howorth, bassist Travis Johnson, guitarist Randy Weitzel and drummer Kent Diimmel. They have steadily emerged as one of the most influential and impactful bands of the 21st century.

To date, IN THIS MOMENT has amassed over two billion streams globally. In addition to the gold-selling album "Blood" (2012),the quintet has also garnered seven gold and two platinum singles, followed by Top 25 entries on the Billboard 200 with "Black Widow" (2014) and "Ritual" (2017).

Between selling out headline tours coast to coast, IN THIS MOMENT performed in arenas and have appeared at countless festivals from Lollapalooza to Sonic Temple. They assembled their seventh full-length, the aptly titled "Mother" (2020) with longtime trusted collaborator Kevin Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH). "Mother" breathed the activating mantra of an unbreakable spell, commenced on first single "The In-Between", which received a Grammy nomination in 2020 for "Best Metal Performance".

In 2022, IN THIS MOMENT released "Blood 1983" (BMG),a reimagined EP commemorating the tenth anniversary of "Blood". Then in 2023, the longtime staples of heavy music released their eighth studio album "Godmode" (BMG),a 10-song record featuring the powerful lead single "The Purge", a stunning cover of Björk's "Army Of Me", the collaborative track "Damaged", which featured Spencer Charnas of ICE NINE KILLS, and "I Would Die For You", which appeared on the soundtrack for "John Wick: Chapter 4".

Photo credit: Jeremy Saffer