In This Moment talk Rob Halford collaboration

In This Moment

In This Moment guitarist Chris Howorth says that having Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford guest on their upcoming album Ritual is “so cool.”

Halford duets with the band’s vocalist Maria Brink on the track Black Wedding – and Howorth reports the Metal God was a natural choice for the track.

Howorth tells Metal Wani: “Maria was doing the lyrics – and it’s almost like a duet, but she’s singing to herself with the mother and the priest and we’re like, ‘Rob Halford IS the priest! He would be the coolest dude ever to have on this song.’

“A couple of years ago, he actually expressed interest in our band and came to see us. It blew our minds completely. We became friends with him from that point.

“He’s been super influential to us and when we were doing the song, Maria was, like, ‘I’m going to see if Rob’s interested’ and he jumped right on it. It’s so cool to have him on this song with us.”

Ritual will be released on July 21 via Atlantic Records, with the band unveiling the singles Oh Lord and Roots over recent months.

And as for how the follow-up to 2014’s Black Widow turned out, Howorth says he’s happy with the results and adds: “It’s such a mindblowing thing when you’re trying to write an album. You’re so self-critical of everything and you listen to everything so many times, you almost lose sight of anything.

“But after having sat with it, I really, really like it. I feel like our fans are really gonna like it. We’ve delivered a little bit more of what our fans want. And some of our favourite tracks are Roots – and I can’t wait for people to hear Black Wedding. And I think there’s a lot of other ones that our fans are really going to dig deep and get into. So I’m stoked on it.”

In This Moment are currently on tour across the US. Find a full list of their tour dates along with the Ritual cover art and tracklist below.

In This Moment feature in the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine which is on sale now.

You can also read Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog free online with a TeamRock+ subscription.

In This Moment Ritual tracklist

Salvation
Oh Lord
Black Wedding
In The Air Tonight
Joan Of Arc
River Of Fire
Witching Hour
Twin Flames
Half God Half Devil
No Me Importa
Roots
Lay Your Gun Down

In This Moment 2017 US tour dates

Jul 11: Rockford Coronado Theatre, IL
Jul 12: Cedar Rapids McGrath Amphitheater, IA
Jul 14: Mansfield Ink In The Clink, OH
Jul 15: Inwood Shiley Acres Farm, WV
Jul 19: Little Rock Metroplex, AR
Jul 21: Corpus Christi Concrete Street Amphitheatre, TX
Jul 22: Dallas South Side Ballroom, TX
Jul 23: Midland La Hacienda Center, TX
Jul 25: Wichita The Cotillion, KS
Jul 26: Des Moines 7 Flags Event Center, IA
Jul 28: Madison Orpheum Theater, WI
Jul 29: Rochester Mayo Civic Auditorium, MN
Jul 30: Fargo Fargo Civic Auditorium, ND
Aug 01: Bismarck Event Center, ND
Aug 03: Billings Shrine Auditorium, MT
Aug 04: Sturgis Ironhorse Saloon, SD
Aug 05: Lincoln Centennial Mall & M Street, NE

What happened when we joined In This Moment on their biggest ever tour

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.