This story was originally published in Revolver's Winter 2023 Issue, which you can order, along with an exclusive, limited-edition In This Moment shirt, at our shop.
Watch any Hollywood movie about a band, real or fictional, and the dramatization of their origin story will go something like this: The band members meet, someone throws out a cool idea, their sound and vision instantaneously emerges, and then everyone heads off together in hot pursuit of fame and fortune.
The reality — as anyone who's ever actually tried to make it in the music business can tell you — is a much different ball of wax.
Take, for example, In This Moment. Formed in Los Angeles in 2005 by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth, the band endured numerous lineup changes, stylistic struggles and left turns before finding their theatrical, industrial-tinged, art-metal voice on their fourth album, 2012's gold-certified Blood.
But it's only been relatively recently, reveals the two co-founders, that they have truly found their comfort zone as collaborators.
"When we were writing songs for our new album, that's when we really saw how well we both kind of understand each other, " says Howorth. "I used to be like, 'It's gotta be this riff! It's gotta be in there!' But I don't get worried about that anymore — I want Maria to be happy with what I write, because I know when she's happy she'll sing something really, really good.
"And I know she wants our music to be heavy, and to show off our musicianship as a band. We're found that balance, and it's kind of locked-in now."
"It only took us 20 years," Brink adds with a laugh. The most recent breakthrough, she says, came in 2020, when the group unexpectedly found themselves with time on their hands due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them to postpone their tour to support their then-new album Mother.
"The pressure was lifted off of us, where we didn't have a deadline that we were writing for. Chris was writing just to write, and something started happening that just felt really special. It got to the point where I would literally just sing him a song idea on a voicemail, and he would send it back in full music form.
"It would be so good. I was laughing listening to it, like, I can't believe this! I'd call him and be like, 'I love this so much!' And he was like, 'Hell yeah!'"
These songs formed the basis for GODMODE, which may well be In This Moment's most powerful and explosive album yet. Produced by Kane Churko and Tyler Bates, GODMODE features nine band originals, including the scorching single "THE PURGE," the powerhouse closer "I WOULD DIE FOR YOU" (which debuted in John Wick: Chapter 4) and "DAMAGED" — an intensely emotional duet with Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills — as well as a deliciously heavy cover of Björk's "ARMY OF ME."
The album's aggressive and futuristic sound is mirrored by its video game-evoking title, though Brink came up with GODMODE completely unaware of its gaming origins; of the two, Howorth is the major gamer.
"I've been playing Destiny for a long time," Howorth says. "It's a really cool sci-fi shooter kind of thing. So when I was writing music for this album, I would name some of the songs after my Destiny weapons, just to give them a title. But two of them — "SKYBURNER' and 'FATE BRINGER' — Maria just fell in love with the names, so we kept them."
"I came up with 'GODMODE' as a title for a song because I'm always kind of in the spiritual back-and forth, and that felt so powerful," Brink explains. "And then Chris was like, 'You know that's video game terminology as well, right? That means you're limitless and you can't die.' And then we were like, 'That's such a sick name — we need to name the whole album that!' We got so pumped up in the studio just thinking about it!"
GODMODE was recorded at The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, where In This Moment tracked their five previous studio albums (going all the way back to 2010's A Star-Crossed Wasteland) with Kevin Churko. This time, however, it was Churko's 37-year-old son Kane at the controls.
"We had worked with Tyler Bates on 'I WOULD DIE FOR YOU,' that song for John Wick, and we were starting to think about the next album," Howorth recalls. "Kevin's scheduling wasn't working out with our plans, and the idea of going with Kane popped up and we both just kind of jumped on it. And it turned out to be such a huge blessing, because Kane is super talented, just like his dad.
"But he's also young, and he's got this hungry kind of feeling like, I wanna show everybody what I can do! We were joking around at the beginning, saying, 'Dude, let's make this sound blow away your dad!' [Laughs] But I think that energy and fire he has really came together with all the pent-up feelings we had left over from the pandemic."
"Kane had been part of the fabric and part of the family for almost our whole career," adds Brink. "We'd written with him before — he wrote 'Whore' with us, one of our biggest songs — so having him produce us made sense, but it was also a little scary. But the whole experience wound up being so invigorating and so phenomenal, and this new, exciting music came out of it."
In This Moment have always cultivated a close relationship with their fans. "I know all bands think it, but we feel like we have the best fans in the world," says Brink.
"They've been on this journey with us and gone through all these experiences with us. They still let us be experimental and be weird and do what we want; and they keep coming back to love us and support us and share their energy with us. When they tell us that we empower them, we're always like, 'You do the same exact thing for us!'"
So, unsurprisingly, when we asked Brink if she'd be down to answer Revolver readers' questions for this special feature, she was all in — and willing to dive into everything from her childhood trailer park concerts and the enduring influence of her two moms to her favorite tattoo, RuPaul fandom, Rob Halford stories and much more.
WHAT INSPIRES THE VISUAL THEMATIC CHANGES OF THE BAND? FROM HARDCORE FAIRY-TALE ALICE IN WONDERLAND TO DESERT GUNSLINGER TO DARK BLACK WIDOW TO SALEM VIBES… AND IS THERE ANOTHER VISUAL EVOLUTION IN THE WORKS? — Vivafoxyfoxxy
I love that. What a great question. You know, we're all just evolving in life, and we like to move into new energies and try new things and experiment in new places — and honestly surprise ourselves.
We don't wanna just stay in that one energy. We can't tell you how many times people have told us to write the same songs over and over again. "Write another one like 'Whore'! Let's hear one more like 'Blood'!" [Laughs] But we just want to keep expanding and growing.
I'm always looking for new things to find inspiration from. I love the visuals; I love to be theatrical. I'm super passionate about all those little details, from drawing up the ideas and wardrobes and coming up with storylines. All the little details matter. Chris and the guys really embrace that and let me dream up these ideas, and then we bring them to life.
But we always say it starts with the music: The first, most important thing is that the music has to make you feel something. Then you get to put on all these layers, like the music videos and the live show, and figure out how to bring it all to life so all the sense are being affected. I'm just a psycho about it, Chris says. [Laughs] I never stop; I'm always writing a new idea or thinking up a new outfit or figuring out how we're gonna bring that song to life visually.
And the guys make sure that we've always got that musicianship as part of the show. We're just very much workaholics.
YOU'VE SHOUTED-OUT GROWING UP WITH TWO STRONG MOTHERS, AND THEMES OF MOTHERHOOD COME UP IN YOUR MUSIC. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU LEARNED ABOUT RESILIENCE GROWING UP WITH BADASS WOMEN AS YOUR ROLE MODELS, AND HOW THAT'S HELPED YOU NAVIGATE THE PAST 20 YEARS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? — Casey
I mean, they've taught me everything. They're my biggest inspiration. They're the perfect example of strong, resilient, kind, compassionate, loving women. We've gone through really hard times, too, and my mothers have shown me that you can find yourself at the worst place in your life and you can always fight and push through and turn it around.
And honestly, without my mothers, I wouldn't even be a singer. They took me to all the concerts — I got to see Tina Turner and Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett. We'd always be in the lawn seats out on the grass, and they looked so far away.
Now In This Moment are headlining places like that, and singing to those people out in the grass. It's such a crazy, surreal thing… and I wouldn't be doing that without my mothers.
WHO INSPIRED YOU TO START A BAND, OR WANT TO BECOME A SINGER IN THE FIRST PLACE? — Melindamayhem
I think I'm just an expressive person, you know? Even when I was a little girl — like, five, six, seven years old — I'd get our little community together in the trailer park where we lived, and I would put on little productions with all the little kids, and I would sing. It always brought me joy to vocally let it out, even as a little girl.
And I think I just wound up in metal because I had a crazy, tumultuous life — I still do, honestly. I try to live my life kind, compassionate and controlled, but I have full chaos inside. And it's a great way for me to express everything inside of me.
If you walk around screaming like that at normal people, they're gonna try to commit you in an institution; whereas the metal community welcomes your insanity with open arms and cheers you on. [Laughs]
YOU ARE MY AGE, WHICH I LOVE. I ALSO GET THE SENSE THAT YOU AREN'T EXTREMELY EXTROVERTED, WHICH I ALSO LOVE. WHAT SELF-CARE HABITS DO YOU PRACTICE TO RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES AFTER EACH SHOW? THE ENERGY YOU DISPLAY ONSTAGE IS AMAZING, BUT I IMAGINE IT'S PRETTY DRAINING. — Jaime Russell
Yeah, you do have to take care of yourself on the road. I know everybody thinks it's like sex, drugs and rock & roll all the time, but you can't party too hard every night. You'll just burn your candle on each end, and you won't have your mental health — and mental health is really important on the road as well.
So we're all working on trying to keep ourselves physically healthy by, you know, stretching or trying to do things that you're supposed to do to take care of yourself. For me, it's more about keeping my mental health; my tour bus is like a spa, with the exception of when my dogs are barking. [Laughs]
There's crystals everywhere, incense burning and peaceful music playing — my house is exactly the same way — and it just keeps my energy at bay, even though there's chaos going on all the time on tour.
MY PARENTS ARE SUPER PARANOID AND RELIGIOUS. OF COURSE, THEY CALL YOU "SATANISTS" BECAUSE OF YOUR WITCHY IMAGERY. I TELL THEM IT'S EMPOWERMENT. I KNOW YOU TALK ABOUT RITUALS, BUT CAN YOU SHARE WHAT YOUR BELIEFS ARE? — Sarah Klepper
Oh my gosh, that is so silly when I hear those things, but I get it. You know, if you don't really listen or pay attention to what things are and the meaning of the songs, maybe you would think that. But I'm actually a very spiritual person.
I actually say a little prayer before I walk onstage every single night. If anyone looks at our CDs, the first "thank you" you'll see is to God and the Universe and Love.
I find God not always in a church, but I find God more in the forest and the quiet and in the serenity and everything around me. I believe in the exchange of energy around us, and that what you put your energy into and what you put out into the world and how you treat people is gonna come back to you, you know?
So I do have different rituals and things that help me focus in on something. If I'm trying to manifest something into my life, I may have little ritual things that I do or little stuff like that. I'm not Satanic, I'm not sacrificing anything… But I do believe in the earth, and I believe in nature, and I believe that everything's connected — and that it can help us and empower us.
HAVING SURVIVED IN THIS BUSINESS FOR TWO DECADES, WHAT IS THE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WISHED YOU WERE GIVEN WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED OUT? — Henry McAdams
That's a really good question, too. I think if you're really trying to connect with people and do something that's really gonna move the needle, it's just about connecting to something truthful that means something to you.
Because in the metal community, especially, they don't like things that are contrived; they want honesty. They want to feel something real and raw that they can connect to, and the only way people connect to that is if you feel real and raw and connected to it.
WHICH ONE OF YOUR ALBUMS WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT TO CREATE, AND WHY? — MrMitzie
The most difficult album to make? I'd say our Blood album. We were at this pivotal moment in our careers where a tour we were on ended abruptly, a number of our band members wound up quitting and our manager at the time dropped us. Things were just falling apart; and for a brief moment, we thought the band was over.
But I remember saying to Chris, "We are not fucking done! How can we let the path that we're gonna walk in our life stop because people don't believe in us right now?" So with that album, the pressure was so on. No one was even caring about us. But when we sent out our song "Blood" as a demo, just trying to talk to managers, they were lining up. And we were like, "Oh my god, something's happening."
And we knew we were having a transition, and it was one of the best moments of our lives — it gave us this new, invigorated energy and fire, and we decided to do an album where we had no rules, and not let anyone question us on where we were going with it.
We wrote what wound up becoming our biggest album at the time, the one that really put In This Moment on the map. So that why I say to everyone that when the hardest stuff is happening and you think it's all over, just hold on a little bit more. You don't know what can happen.
WITH THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF BLACK WIDOW COMING UP, I GOTTA ASK: WILL YOU EVER PERFORM "SEX METAL BARBIE" OR "BONES" LIVE AGAIN? — BGRISSSS
You know, maybe we'll do a tour sometime that is focused on that album. I think that'd be a really cool thing that people would enjoy. But yes, people love "Sex Metal Barbie" — it's one of our top streaming songs. We haven't played it in so long. I think it'd be really cool to play that one and a lot of those other songs on that album, like "Sick Like Me" and "The Fighter." I love that whole album.
YOUR DUET WITH ROB HALFORD, "BLACK WEDDING," IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. ANY HALFORD STORIES YOU CAN SHARE WITH US? FIRST TIME YOU MET, WHAT YOU LEARNED, ANYTHING! — Phoebe Tanner
Nothing but the absolute best stories ever! [Laughs] We met him because we were having a show in San Diego, and people were like, "Rob Halford wants to come to the show." And we were like, "Oh my god!"
So we ended up meeting him, and he was just this special person, just so honest and loving, with such bright, amazing energy. So we wound up becoming acquaintances and friends. And when the song happened, where we had this kind of back-and-forth between the priest and the nun, we were like, "We have to ask him to do this!"
And not only did he say yes, but we got to do a video with him, and perform the song at some music awards with him. It was such a special thing, definitely one of the biggest honors in our careers so far. He's a legend.
IF YOU DIDN'T BECOME A MUSICIAN, WHAT TYPE OF CAREER DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE? — Caz Wood
That's a good question. I think that it would've been something in the entertainment world — like, I'd be in the circus, or I'd be an actress, or I'd be a ballerina. I think something that was expressive and within the arts is probably where I'd be. I just have to have that outlet.
WHICH TATTOO OF YOURS IS YOUR FAVORITE OR MOST MEANINGFUL, AND WHY? — Ojalvamale
I have the infinity symbol, and that's for my family — so that's probably the most sentimental to me, and the most sacred to me. But I love tattoos. They're a beautiful form of self-expression, and I love them.
I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHEN I HEARD IN THIS MOMENT BLASTING IN THE MOVIE THEATER AT JOHN WICK. WAS THAT A HUGE MOMENT FOR YOU? WERE YOU A FAN OF THE SERIES? DID YOU WRITE "I WOULD DIE FOR YOU" WITH THE MOVIE IN MIND? — Richie Classon
Tyler Bates is this incredible composer, who works with all these different amazing movies that we've all seen, from Guardians of the Galaxy to 300. We wound up working with him on a few different projects, and then in the pandemic we just wanted to create some music with him.
So we actually went to L.A. and we wrote that song with him, and we loved the song and everything that he brought to that. But when we found out that he was getting it into that movie, we couldn't believe it. It's such a dream come true to have your song in a movie series that's this iconic.
We loved the movie, we loved the whole thing, and it was just an honor to be a part of it all. It's like when we got nominated for a Grammy [for "The In-Between"] on our last album [Mother].
You work towards a dream your whole life, and then when it actually happens, it's like this surreal feeling — like you're in a dream and you can't believe it's actually happening. [Laughs] And we're just filled with gratitude for all of it.
WHAT IS THE MOST SHOCKING GIFT YOU'VE GOTTEN FROM A FAN, AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT? — Mike Braga
One guy tried to give us his artificial leg. That was strange. It was a beautiful gift, but we were like, "No, you need this!" [Laughs] We've gotten a lot of strange things, but I think the weirdest thing would probably be that somebody gave me their hair once.
They gave me a card, and when I opened it, their hair was all inside of it. I thought, That's interesting… [Laughs] People do weird stuff with their babies a lot too — like, somebody asked me to sign their baby.
I was like, "I am not signing your baby. That is not appropriate — that's this sacred little baby that doesn't even know it's alive yet!"
WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY YOU GUYS SHOW, WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER BEING A GUEST JUDGE ON RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE? RUPAUL RECENTLY HAD BRANDON BOYD FROM INCUBUS ON THERE AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE TO HAVE REPRESENTATION FROM THE METAL COMMUNITY IN THE MAINSTREAM LIKE THAT. — Dylan Langdon
RuPaul's Drag Race? That's like my dream show to be on! I love RuPaul. I watch all of the seasons. And we're huge in that community; like I said, I have two mothers, and there are a lot of people I love who are part of it. And we've seen personal struggles; some of our fans have shared the hard times that they've gone through.
It's a part of me, and we're all connected. We're just about embracing and empowering love and community — on all sides of the community, you know? So yeah, RuPaul, if you're reading this: Call me!
