Oregon Music News

Sister Sin's Liv Jagrell belts it out. Photos by Jon T. Cruz.

In This Moment returned to Portland on April 29th hot on the heels of their appearance on Disturbed’s Music As A Weapon Tour. This time they are headlining Revolver Magazine’s The Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock with female fronted bands: Sister Sin, System Divide, and Straight Line Stitch. The show was running a little late as there was a music festival running co-currently that featured local bands. The acoustics at The Bossanova Lounge were poor at best and the lighting non-existent for a tour such as this featuring national acts-the show went on.

Kicking The Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock was Gothenburg, Sweden’s Sister Sin who made their second appearance in Portland, Oregon. Sister Sin were allotted 25 minutes and they maximized their time onstage. Singer Liv Jagrell moved about the stage getting the audience involved in the performance. Surely there are better singers, and musicians out there than Sister Sin but much like Motorhead as a collective unit they are untouchable. “Outage,” 24/7,” and “On Parole” worked over the Portland crowd magnificently. With two strong full-length studio albums under their belts in Switchblade Serenades and True Sound of the Underground Sister Sin‘s fan base will continue to expand.

System Divide's Miri Milman.

System Divide are like the United Nations of Extreme Metal with members from Israel, Belgium and the US. The band featured dual vocalists with Sven de Caluwé provided the Death Metal growl; while Miri Milman cut through the distorted mess with an angelic melodic vocal. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying about dogs that bark and dogs that bite? System Divide are a dog that bites, their music was cliché, packaged rebellion with songs that went nowhere. Imagine a watered down version of Sonic Syndicate with clean female vocals and you‘ll have an idea what System Divide sounds like.

Straight Line Stitch have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with over the years. Singer Alexis Brown and Company have a loyal following in Portland and their supporters came out in numbers to show their support. Straight Line Stitch are touring behind their sophomore album The Fight of Our Lives which has received critical acclaim since it’s release earlier this Spring. Alexis Brown showed off her soulful, ferocious voice as she tore through the band’s expanded set. Straight Line Stitch’s performance was energetic, powerful and uncompromising-the way Metal music should be.

Straight Line Stitch's Alexis Brown tears it up.

The start of In This Moment’s set was plagued with a series of technical difficulties, mainly having to do with getting their monitors just right. None the less the band kicked off their 60 minute headlining set. Given the limited lighting in the venue the band’s colorful stage set complete with logo backdrop, matching drum riser, and of course Maria Brink’s eye catching microphone stand were all visible to concertgoers. In This Moment are even tighter as a unit since the last time Oregon Music News caught up with them last fall at Peter’s Room. Their relentless tour is paying off as The Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock is their second headlining tour in less than 9 months. They are currently promoting their album A Star Crossed Wasteland which was released in July of 2010.

In This Moment's Maria Brink showcases vocal power.

The guitar team of Chris Howorth and Blake Bunzel are an underrated duo in a subgenre that isn’t known for it’s guitar slingers. Howorth and Bunzel delivered monstrous, distorted sound waves which emanated from their amplifiers all night. They that cut through even the thickest of ear plugs and rattled some fillings. Maria Brink’s performance was impeccable, she maneuvered through the band’s set effortlessly without missing a note. While the current set was heavy on material from their current effort there were a number of standouts throughout the set however “Beautiful Tragedy,” “The Gun Show,” and “Just Drive” were the most notable. Kudos to In This Moment for yet another outstanding, bludgeoning performance in Portland. Photography for this article by Jon T. Cruz