The American metal scene differs from the European one greatly. While European metal bands usually play some variation of symphonic metal, gothic metal, death metal, industrial metal, among others types, the American scene has mostly turned toward a harsher sound, mostly hardcore and metalcore, in recent times. Among those was In This Moment, but where this band stood out was the inclusion of female vocals, not something one normally sees among these types of bands. Maria Brink, however, has proved on Beautiful Tragedy that she can do anything a man can do, as well anything a woman can do on The Dream, making her one of the most versatile vocalists in the metal scene. A Star-Crossed Wasteland sees both sides of Maria, as well as crafting what the band calls their "defining sound," combining the heaviness and raw emotion of their debut with the beautiful melodies of The Dream.

This album sees In This Moment at its heaviest with tracks like "The Gun Show," "Blazin’," and the epic "Iron Army," and it also sees the band at its most melodic in the haunting ballad "A Star-Crossed Wasteland" and the beautiful closer "World In Flames." The two sounds flow wonderfully together; creating one cohesive album that is arguably the best of 2010 (at least, so far).

One of the things that make this album interesting is its concept. Maria has said in interviews that she set A Star-Crossed Wasteland in a sort of post-apocalyptic wild-west kind of world. With that in mind, the album (at least as I interpret it) tells the story of a seemingly badass cowgirl and her relationship with a man who will eventually become known as "The Last Cowboy." It tells the story of how they met ("The Gun Show") to their parting ("The Promise" and "Standing Alone"), after which, much of the rest of the album dwells on the loneliness of the main character, how alone and vulnerable she feels ("A Star-Crossed Wasteland"), the search for her love ("The Road" and "The Last Cowboy"), finally ending in one epic release of pure emotion and vulnerability ("World in Flames"). At the same time, she tries to preserve the tough girl façade, especially in songs like "Blazin’" and "Iron Army," showing a contrast between the two sides of her character: the independent badass cowgirl on the outside and the lovelorn, vulnerable girl on the inside. One of the brilliant things Brink does on this album is actually use her two different vocal styles to separate the two personas. Wherever she screams, she’s showing off the cowgirl persona while her clean singing represents the vulnerable side. Most songs contain both, and the contrast makes for one hell of a sound.

As far as the actual musical quality of the tracks, I can’t think of any that stand out as weak. The only one I might point to is "The Gun Show" which is a bit generic and gets annoying after a few listens if you don’t know how it fits into the album as a whole. Still, it will make for a great live song and is still fun to rock out to. Of course, there are strong tracks aplenty on this album. "Just Drive" is powerful and beautiful at the same time, the ballad "A Star-Crossed Wasteland," is haunting and wonderful, "Blazin’" is a metal anthem that should get everyone banging their heads, "Iron Army," is full of raw power with the best breakdown of any In This Moment song, and "World In Flames" is very nearly a tearjerker, full of emotion and a sense of vulnerability, abandonment, and loneliness. That’s one thing I love about Maria’s singing. She brings emotion to the table like no other in both her screams and her clean vocals. There’s a very raw quality to her voice that helps the emotions get through to the listener, whether it’s anger or sadness or adoration. Relatable might be the word.

Kudos to In This Moment for releasing such a gem. They’ve found their defining sound after trying out different directions on their last two albums and brought us an epic wild-west influenced post-apocalyptic piece of American melodic metalcore. It leaves one wondering how they could possibly top this. We’ll see.

Standout tracks include "Just Drive," "A Star-Crossed Wasteland," "Iron Army", "The Last Cowboy," and "World in Flames." A Star-Crossed wasteland is also available in a deluxe version that differs depending on the retailer. Some come with autographs, some come with t-shirts, and some with bonus tracks. For more details visit http://myspace.com/inthismoment

9 / 10