In This Moment
Black Widow
(Atlantic Records)
In This Moment’s follow-up to Blood throws itself heavily into industrial sounds, beats and tortured lyrics of psychological self-inflection and multiple mental addictions. Maria Brink’s breathy, sexual-laced delivery is over everything when she’s not wailing or screaming and there’s a certain wink in her Reznor-esque lyrics of inner pain and deviance that says, “yeah, I know.”
Delivering a quivering balance of heavy pop, industrial, techno and metal taking generous scoops from the multi-flavored genre parlor, Black Widow keeps a dominatrix attitude while exposing, ripped-open inner pain and vulnerability. Intro song “The Infection†starts with an eerie, arm-length creepy crawl – cue the booming heartbeat and screaming sirens, you’ve been bit. Homicidal queen “Sex Metal Barbie†indeed, this song is a menagerie of bells and chimes on techno strings that make her move and dance that way. Industrial beats tag team with heavy guitars in a self-mocking nod, receipt to the haters and detractors of her media portrayal. The dark electronic ambiance of “Big Bad Wolf†starts with descending guitar drags and moans with techno metal and a catchy dance beat. The southern bell in black dressed to kill comes out “Dirty Pretty,†malicious intent ready with background black lipstick Marilyn Manson-esque vocals. Shinedown’s Brent Smith lends vocals on the soothing, tranquil, Evanescence flow of “Sexual Hallucination.†“Sick Like Me,†arguably the album’s “Adrenalize,†blares sirens and guitars sliding dirty energy as sexed-up, psychological appetites whet for personal fetish control. With broken baby doll vocals and jaded blood-dripping teeth, the material girl temptress sings her seduction on “Bloody Creature Poster Girl†with a paper-thin invitation to sin, more than a quick tease. She’s possibly the female counterpart of Rob Zombie. “The Fighter†wails a lifetime of tortured tales on the piano as the horror movie fairytale of spending eternity in the grave with your “Bones†sets up “Natural Born Sinnerâ€â€™s synthesizer’s to slither like the invitation of original sin.
