In This Moment Chris knows his place

In This Moment's Chris Howarth has compared frontwoman Maria Brink to Star Wars bad guy Darth Vader.

The guitarist says every show needs a star, and adds that the rest of the band are happy for Brink to take the limelight.

Howarth tells Metal Hammer: “If she wasn’t in the band, it wouldn’t be the same. She’s got something special. She needs to be held up as the frontperson for this band because she is awesome.”

However, that doesn’t mean the rest of In This Moment are simply sidemen. He explains: “I don’t want to downplay her role in the band – but come and see us live and you’ll see we’re a real band, and I know my role. I’m happy in my place and with my contribution.

“Look at Star Wars. Darth Vader is cool. If it was just him on his own, then it would still be cool, but it’s so much cooler with all the other stuff.”

Brink adds that she couldn’t do what she does without her bandmates: “I love Chris. He’s always been my biggest supporter. We’ll know each other when we’re both 90 – I know it. And those guys are rock stars. They bring it every night onstage.”

In This Moment release their fifth album Black Widow on November 17.

Read the full interview in the new issue of Metal Hammer, out now.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.