|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Living in a dream |
|
|
By Travis Tutwiler |
|
It’s been a whirlwind life since Fabb, Bunzel, Maria Brink (vocals), Chris Howorth (guitar) and Jesse Landry (bass) released their debut Beautiful Tragedy in 2007. Soon after, ITM landed opening spots for Ozzy, Rob Zombie and played at two Ozzfests. In 2008 they released their sophomore disc, The Dream, which debuted at #70 on the Billboard 200. “That definitely was something we were so grateful for, because it was more than twice as much as our first record. It was especially nice to be recognized on the Billboard charts under a hundred,” states Bunzel. “It was a celebration day.” And, how did Fabb feel about the achievement? “I was like, ‘ah whatever,’ he says nonchalantly. “No, no, no (laughing). I mean it was awesome, man. We were really excited for the record, because it was a whole new thing. We had a new producer (Kevin Churko) and a whole new creative experience. So we were really excited.” The Dream finds ITM taking a new direction by making use of Maria’s incredible vocal range and incorporating more guitar. “Honestly, Maria had been saying throughout the touring cycle for Beautiful Tragedy that she was always being complemented on her screams — and people weren’t recognizing her singing as much, “ explains Howorth. “The only guideline we had going into The Dream was to write the best songs we could write, which kind of lends itself to melody. She felt like singing more, and we backed her.” “Before we went in on this (record),” Bunzel notes, “we were getting pumped up on 80’s hair metal and Pantera and all that shit.” Howorth elaborates, “To me, metal has always been Sabbath, Ozzy, Motley Crue and Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth. All that stuff is metal to me. It can have melodic singing and lots of solos — or it can have just blast beats. It can be all that. We just kind of went with it, ‘cuz it’s all metal. Let’s just do what we want to and make good songs.’ The Dream covers everything from heart wrenching “Into The Light” to the nu-metal sounds of “Her Kiss” and the punk rock vibe of “Violet Skies.” ”That’s one of my favorite songs to play live,” Fabb relates, “because of the middle part, and it’s kind of progressive.” This night is the final stop on the Mudvayne tour. Next up for ITM is an opening slot for Papa Roach in Europe and then a spot on the Ernie Ball Stage on this summer’s Warped Tour. Things are definitely looking bright. “It just keeps growing. That’s good, so we’re excited,” admits Fabb with a sense of enthusiasm. “We still have a lot of work to do. None of us are fooled by that. But we’re just grateful we’ve gotten to play with the people that we’ve gotten to play with so early. I mean Megadeth and Metallica. Then being on tour with Ozzy and Mudvayne — it’s just been incredible.” |
|
FEATURES | Queensryche | SXSW 09 | In This Moment | |
|
Website by
© Harder Beat Magazine All Rights Reserved