In This Moment : "Ritual"

So this is pretty much the Maria Brink show now. There is more spooky stuff going on to open the album and it feels like their will be less sexy nurses writhing around. I have often found her better to look at than listen to so lets see if this album changes that opinion. The first actual song is strange as it takes the stomp of a negro spiritual and molds it into something more sultry hard rock edges. The big chorus hooks don't come til mid way into the song. I am not sure if it is all production but here voice sounds better on this album, if she stays in more of Britney Spears like alto. But it's clear she has a better range than Spears as she can belt into her upper register.

There is a more organic feeling to this album, despite the drums not sounding real. Rob Halford shamelessly shows up on "Black Wedding" . Which makes this inversion of the Billy Idol even stranger. I make no qualms about stealing the chorus in the refrain. But some how it works. Then we get yet another cover of "In the Air Tonight". Not sure when Non-Point covered it, but seems like we don't need another cover of it. She does sing the hell out of it , but otherwise musically there is not much we haven't heard before. "Joan of Arc" feels a lot like "the Beautiful People " but a watered down less aggressive take on it.Pop and metal meet pretty evenly on "River of Fire ". I can do without the oh oh oh vocals in the background, aside from them it's a pretty solid marriage of pop and metal. I think the "let it rain" part would make this a great song for strip clubs.  If I ever wondered what Katy Perry would sound like doing metal the answer is on "the Witching Hour" . This formula is not fool proof as it backfires on "Twin Flames".

They get mired in similar almost nu-metal grounds with a slight tinge of 90s industrial rock on "Half God, Half Devil" . The problem then continues to be that they don't feel dark or heavy. They make a better stab at convincing me on "Roots' which was not the Sepultura cover I hoped for. "Lay Your Gun Down" feels more like an outro than ever building into a real song.I'll round this one up to a 7, I think I like the sexier KMFDM sound better, though the pop infused stuff can work. I guess if you are are fan this is par for the course.