In This Moment + Motionless In White at Pepsi Amphitheater at Fort Tuthill Park

Initially conceived as a metalcore counterpart to Evanescence, In This Moment moved into more melodic territory with its fantastical 2008 breakthrough album The Dream. Though capable of throat-scraping screams, vocalist Maria Brink shone brightest on mature and atmospheric material, putting In This Moment in the running as a promising goth rock band. The Los Angeles-based act also widened its exposure by touring with the like-minded Lacuna Coil as well as metal veterans Megadeth and Ozzy Osbourne.

Born of a chance meeting and the innate musical rapport established between vocalist Maria Brink and lead guitarist Chris Howorth, In This Moment quickly grew from local cult favorites performing in Los Angeles clubs to a MySpace phenomenon before landing a deal with Century Media. Along the way, the group was fleshed out by rhythm guitarist Blake Bunzel, bassist Jesse Landry, and drummer Jeff Fabb. In This Moment embarked on several U.S. tours with the likes of Diecast and 36 Crazyfists and gradually honed its melodic metalcore songwriting for their 2007 debut album, Beautiful Tragedy. The band supported it on the Hot Chicks of Metal Tour, featuring Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation, among others. The Dream arrived in 2008 and became their breakthrough as well as their first on the album charts. It was followed by the Top 40 A Star-Crossed Wasteland in 2010.

Multiple changes to the band’s original line-up took place in their earliest years, with Landry leaving the band in 2009, replaced by new bassist Kyle Konkiel. Konkiel only lasted a year before he too left the band and was replaced by Travis Johnson in 2010. One of the largest line-up shifts occurred when founding members Jeff Fabb and Blake Bunzel left in 2011. Their replacements — drummer Tom Hane and guitarist Randy Weitzel — stepped in to complete the recording of electro-charged fourth album Blood in 2012. The album was a Top 20 hit.

The group moved to a major label, Atlantic, for their fifth studio long-player, 2014’s Black Widow, and were rewarded with placement inside the Top 10. In 2016, Hane left the band and former 3 by Design drummer Kent Diimmel took over. In June 2017, the band dropped the single “Roots” in anticipation of the release of sixth full-length Ritual, which arrived in July and hit number 23 on the chart. The following year, recording for their seventh album coincided with a tour, teasing the theme of “mother” in its stage show. The band pushed their sound into heavier territory, including on the single “The In-Between” and the album Mother, which appeared in March 2020. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi

In 2006, Motionless In White materialized out of Scranton, PA with an inimitable conjuration of sharp metallic rock, industrial, magnetic melodies, and larger-than-life visual imagery. The quintet—Chris Motionless [Vocals], Ricky Olson [Guitar], Ryan Sitkowski [guitar], Vinny Mauro [drums], and Justin Morrow [bass]—quietly clawed their way to the forefront of hard rock, gathering nearly half-a-billion cumulative streams and views to date. Following the success of Creatures [2010] and Infamous [2012], Reincarnate [2014] sunk its teeth into the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200, bowing at #9 and capturing #1 on the Top Rock Albums Chart. Both Graveyard Shift [2017] and Disguise [2019] cracked the Top 5 of the Top Hard Rock Albums Chart and Top Rock Albums Chart. Along the way, they sold out headline tours and supported everyone from Slipknot and Korn to Breaking Benjamin. Not to mention, Motionless In White have collaborated with Jonathan Davis of Korn, Maria Brink of In This Moment, Dani Filth of Cradle Of Filth, Tim Sköld of KMFDM, Caleb Shomo of Beartooth, and more. The five-piece kept busy throughout 2020 with the Deadstream event performance of Creatures for its decade-anniversary, a cover of The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me,” and the standalone single “Creatures X: To The Grave.” Now in 2022, Motionless In White are set to return with their new album Scoring The End of the World which sees them perfecting the poetically pummeling sound they patented.

Trauma and tragedy transfer from one generation to the next. As difficult as it may be, we still possess the power to break the cycle and start anew. Fit For A King ponder the pain of these cycles and the possibility to end them on their seventh full-length offering, The Hell We Create [Solid State]. The Texas quintet—Ryan Kirby [vocals], Bobby Lynge [guitar], Daniel Gailey [guitar], Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary [bass], and Trey Celaya [drums]—explore this ebb and flow with a deft, yet delicate balance of sharp metallic intensity and soaring melodic energy. “The album is a reflection of the events that happened throughout the pandemic,” recalls Ryan. “In short, my wife and I adopted children and had to homeschool them. She almost died from a stroke. The Hell We Create is by far the deepest and most personal record we’ve ever written.” In 2011, Fit For A King emerged out of Texas with a searing signature style rooted in metal and hardcore and uplifted by hypnotic hooks. Following the breakout LP Creation/Destruction [2013], they earned four consecutive Top 5 debuts on both the Billboard Top Christian Albums Chart and the Top Hard Rock Albums Chart with Slave to Nothing [2014], Deathgrip [2016], Dark Skies [2018], and The Path [2020]. The latter marked their first #1 on the Top Christian Albums Chart and Top 10 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart. Plus, the band collaborated with fellow heavy-hitters such as August Burns Red and We Came As Romans.

From Ashes To New utilize their outlier perspective to break boundaries. The Lancaster, PA band consists of—Matt Brandyberry [rap vocals, keys, synths, programming, guitar], Danny Case [clean & unclean vocals], Lance Dowdle [lead guitar], and Mat Madiro [drums]—churn out an anthemic hybrid of hard rock, hip-hop, electronic, and alternative with enough energy to inspire you to get up, move forward, and maybe even, make a change. Since 2013, the group have risen from humble beginnings to the top of the 21st century rock vanguard with hundreds of millions of streams, radio hits, sold out shows across the country, and acclaim from LoudWire, Alternative Press, and more.