IN THIS MOMENT's New Album 'Godmode' Is 'Heavier' And 'More Proggy' Than Previous Efforts

Singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth of IN THIS MOMENT spoke to Meltdown of the Detroit radio station WRIF about the band's upcoming eighth studio album, "Godmode", which will be released on October 27 via BMG. Chris said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's different from all of our other albums in a lot of ways. One way is the fact that instead of getting off of a tour and having, like, three months to get it together, go into the studio and make a new one, we had several years to do it. And we used a different producer — we used Kane Churko instead of his father, Kevin. Kevin has done all of our records except for one. So he's done six IN THIS MOMENT albums; Kane's done this newest one. And honestly, working with him brought a whole new level of intensity to the project and the change and the time we had to make it kind of made us a little bit more — I don't know — powerful and aggressive, and the whole thing has an intensity to it that's, that's different for us. Because it was a whole fresh new vibe— the whole thing."

Regarding the musical direction of the new IN THIS MOMENT material, Maria said: "It's very visceral. I mean, we came out of the pandemic and just the three years and all these building up things in us, so it's a little darker than we normally maybe tend to be. I like to always kind of have some inspirational moments and things like that, and there's some of that in there, but it is a lot of purging, kind of a lot of built up, like, things that have… I guess we felt trapped for three years, and just so many, so many things going on and everybody at each other's throat. So there is a lot of kind of visceral releasing in there, let's say. It's heavier. There's different time signatures than we've ever done and a lot new experimental things. And I'm excited for it. I really am. I think people are gonna like it."

On the topic of the more progressive nature of some of the new IN THIS MOMENT songs, Maria said: "I love all that off-time signature stuff. I'm obsessed with how people take two parts, and the one part's going one way and then this other part comes in, but it really doesn't go with this part, and then, all of a sudden, they all start going together. And so I kept telling [Chris] I really wanted to start bringing in a lot of this. He loves all that. He's, like, 'Hell yeah.' And we just started creating. It was a really natural flow for us."

She added: "We've bumped heads before in the past. And IN THIS MOMENT really does wind up always having its sound because of us two collaborating. If it was just me, it'd be very one way. If it was just Chris, it'd be very one way. IN THIS MOMENTisIN THIS MOMENT because of like how we collide. But we were just flowing on this one. I was so impressed with every single thing he was bringing to the table. He was loving what I was bringing to the table. There was no fighting. It was just like — 'flow like a river,' we were calling it, 'cause it was beautiful."

Asked to clarify if "Godmode" is "more proggy" than some of IN THIS MOMENT's previous records, Chris said: "It definitely is. And heavier and there's more riffs, kind of, but in a way that works with the song. I think the time that we had to make it, the unintentional time with the pandemic and everything, made it so that it's just better, because the pressure of having to just come up with a bunch of new stuff on the spot, it made me check out a lot on some of the previous albums on — you know, the feeling of creativity — whereas this one, it all felt more flowy, like she said."

Last month, IN THIS MOMENT released the first single from "Godmode", a song called "The Purge", along with an official music video directed by Jensen Noen (ICE NINE KILLS, FALLING IN REVERSE, HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD).

When the track was first released, Maria said in a statement: "We are thrilled to unveil 'The Purge' to everyone. I am so grateful for how everything flowed to bring this song to life, both sonically and visually. Kane Churko and Jensen Noen helped to create this musical and cinematic experience with us and we could not have done it without them. The underlying message of the song is to not fall too deeply into the rabbit hole, everything is about finding balance. I had a lot of emotions building within me when I approached the song for the first time and after years of holding it all in I finally got to let it out!"

Howorth added: "This song came from our time in lockdown. We all had our own personal experiences during the pandemic, and we all saw the social unrest unfolding daily tearing us apart. It was such a crazy time. Our band, like everything else, was stopped in its tracks. During the lockdown I was sending Maria musical ideas I was working on, and this one really resonated with her. She even said, 'This is gonna be our first single.' Fast forward a couple years and all the pent-up frustration and angst came pouring out in Maria's lyrics and performance, creating this crazy visceral song."

"Godmode" was recorded at Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada with producers Kane Churko (OZZY OSBOURNE, PAPA ROACH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) and Tyler Bates ("John Wick" movies, Jerry Cantrell, BUSH).

"Godmode" track listing:

01. Godmode
02. The Purge
03. Army Of Me
04. Sacrifice
05. Skyburner
06. Sanctify Me
07. Everything Starts And Ends With You
08. Damaged (feat. Spencer Charnas)
09. Fate Bringer
10. I Would Die For You

IN THIS MOMENT debuted "Sacrifice" and "The Purge" at the opening concert of "The Dark Horizon Tour" on July 8 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

"I Would Die For You" previously appeared on the soundtrack for "John Wick: Chapter 4".

IN THIS MOMENT is joined on "The Dark Horizon Tour" by co-headliners MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, along with special guests FIT FOR A KING and FROM ASHES TO NEW. The trek, which sees IN THIS MOMENT and MOTIONLESS IN WHITE alternating closing sets each night, will continue through an August 19 performance at MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

In support of the new album, IN THIS MOMENT will embark on a 2023 co-headline "Kiss Of Death" tour with ICE NINE KILLS. The 20-date tour kicks off on November 3 at Hard Rock Live in Gary, Indiana making stops across the U.S. in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Orlando and more before the final show in Washington, D.C. at The Anthem on November 28.

Last October, IN THIS MOMENT released an EP called "Blood 1983". The effort commemorated the tenth anniversary of IN THIS MOMENT's gold-certified album "Blood" (2012) and was made available digitally across all digital service providers as well as CD via BMG.

"Blood 1983" was co-produced by Tyler Bates and Dan Haigh, and mixed by Zakk Cervini.

IN THIS MOMENT is Brink, Howorth, Travis Johnson (bass),Randy Weitzel (rhythm guitar),Kent Dimmel (drums).