Playing music in a genre like metalcore is a difficult thing. You've got to do what you do very well to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. Even then, odds are you will be tagged as such and thrown in with the rest of the pack of 18 Visions', Atreyu's, and Unearth's.
Finding a Voice in the Dark, the debut full length from Southern California's This Moment, is a record you will either love or hate. It all depends on your stance on this style of music, which seems to permeate more from California than from any other state in the union.
Many will take note of this band because of their producer; Former Death By Stereo bassist Paul Miner. Yep, the same guy who produced Atreyu's Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses. As you might expect from that, This Moment's sound could fit well on Victory Records' current roster of bands using interchanging vocals of singing and screaming as well as catchy guitar riffs with breakdown after breakdown. At times, This Moment comes off as the bastard child of The Bled, Shai Hulud, and Atreyu.
The band often uses lyrical imagery that has become far far too typical. The songs make use of imagery such as razor blades and blood, along with songs reeking of desperate heartbreak and loneliness. These songs are delivered with not so much of a higher pitched scream as it is with a guttural howl, making it less obvious how cheesy these songs are at times.
Despite all these things, Finding a Voice in the Dark could have been much worse of a debut than it is. The members of this band are still young, and surely have not yet decided where there sound will go from here. If this band can keep Paul Miner in their camp, as they mature they will have someone competent to guide them along the path to making some great records in their future.
