In This Moment

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Vinyl Las Vegas presents In This Moment with Butcher Babies.

It was interesting to see Butcher Babies play and have to depend strictly on the music and not the nipple tape at their recent show at Hard Rock Casino’s new club Vinyl. The LA band fronted by Playboy media host Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey opened for In This Moment for an all ages show, so the nudity and tatty tape were a definite NO. The two usually rely on a Plasmatic-esque performance with near nudity, (hence their “Butcher” namesake) but this may have been a better make your mark moment, as the focus was put on the music, the stage presence, power and provocativeness these two chicks can evoke sans the props, except a little stage blood for color. Backed by band members guitarist Henry Flury (Amen), bassist Jason Klein (Azdachao), and drummer Chris Warner (Scars of Tomorrow) the self proclaimed ‘Slut Metal” duo growled and screamed and held their own with the genre of blood metal and trash thrash, and came out with some new fans. Granted the girls still looked titillating and worked it, but mostly covered up the power loaded music they pound out was actually out front and center for once. Not breaking any new boundaries in shock and rock clothed or not; it’s all been done before dirtier and with a chainsaw, but Butcher Babies make for an entertaining headbanging night. Signed this week to Century Media Records, a label they now share with the headliner of the night In This Moment, we should be hearing more horror rock as they shoot for releasing a debut cd in 2013.

In This Moment was the main event for the night, and a masked and angelically white costumed Maria Brink appeared amidst heavy smokescreen and dim lights to start off the event. In This Moment shows are noted for heavy theatrical elements and vocalist Brink’s ability to play a variety of roles and scenes woven into the set. Aside from the heavy metal backbone and power driven songs she carries a sometimes dominating, sometimes fragile figure rising over the fray. From her angelic entrance for “Rise” into “Adrenalize”, and her schoolgirl attire and emblazoned dunce hat for “Whore”, she brought forth emotions of hate, love, power and fear in her personas and in the music. On stage Brink is one of the most charismatic and self confident frontwomen out there, leading the crowd to participate in choruses, waving their hands in the air, like a twisted evangelic host to the party. The bands’ heavy metal backbone from guitarist Chris Howorth (who co-founded the band with Maria), guitarist Randy Weitzel, bassist travis Johnson and Tom Hane on drums pound out dark, dense cacophonous sounds that Brink sometimes sings and most time screams over, for an intensity that draws the audience in and doesn’t let go. From the opening strains of the show until the in-your-face encore of “Blood” (the single off the recent CD release of the same name), In This Moment is mesmerizing and has the crowd in the palm of their bloody hand.

In This Moment will be touring scheduled dates through mid December, and you can keep up with news and new tour informatics at their website at inthismomentofficial.com.