IN THIS MOMENT guitarist Chris Howorth recently contributed to MTV Headbanger's Blog. His rant appears below.

"Letscore playcore thecore annoyingcore namecore gamecore!

As a kid growing up in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I always loved heavy music. It started with KISS, METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, RATT, BON JOVI, MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, W.A.S.P., SLAYER, AC/DC, PRIEST, MAIDEN, SABBATH, OZZY, PANTERA, etc. Basically, I listened to any and all the great rock and metal bands I could. Sonically, I knew some of these bands were different from each other, whether they had louder guitars, more singing, screaming or shouting. And they looked different, too, from the way they dressed and acted. But all these bands were considered metal or hard rock. I don’t know when the need to label every genre or subgenre with all these ridiculous names started, but it has really gotten out of hand.

I have personal reasons for being annoyed by this labeling phenomenon since my band, In This Moment, has been called everything from emocore, metalcore, gothcore, and goth to swedish death metal and thrash. We’ve been reviewed by numerous magazines and Web zines, and all the reviewers gave their honest opinions of our music, but none failed to throw in a few wacky genre descriptions for good measure. I always thought we were just a rock/metal band from North Hollywood, California, but I guess that isn’t enough of a description these days.

Some of these names are absurd. I did a little Google search and here are some genres I found:

Doom metal, drone metal, folk metal, glam metal, gothic metal, groove metal, industrial metal, metalcore, neo-classical metal, nu-metal, post-metal, power metal, progressive metal, sludge metal, speed metal, stoner metal, thrash metal, alternative metal, avant-garde metal, Christian metal, extreme metal, rap metal, symphonic metal, Viking metal, new wave of British heavy metal, Norwegian black metal, Scandinavian death metal, Bay Area thrash metal, Brazilian thrash metal, Teutonic thrash metal, Australian heavy metal, new wave of American heavy metal, alternative metal, avant-garde metal, blackened death metal, screamocore, gothcore, classic metal, crossover, crustcore, crust punk, deathgrind, death metal, deathcore, glam metal, goregrind, grindcore, grunge, hatecore, hard rock, hardcore punk, heavy metal, Horror punk, industrial metal, mathcore, melodic black metal, melodic death metal, melodic hardcore, noisecore, pornogrind, post-hardcore, post-grunge, power metal, power violence, progressive metal, sludge metal, speed metal, stoner metal, symphonic metal, thrashcore.

As a metal fan, I can honestly say I don’t need these descriptions to help me decide what to listen too. They don’t help anyone do anything except scratch their head and wonder, 'What the hell does that mean?'"

As previously reported, In This Moment are currently on the road supporting MUDVAYNE, with some off-date headline shows (**) thrown in for good measure. Their schedule is as follows:

February

13 - Sokol Auditorium - Omaha, Nebraska
14 - Shrine Mosque - Springfield, Missouri
15 - The Pearl Room - Mokena, Illinois
16 - Pop's - Sauget, Illinois **
17 - Prairie Capitol Convtn. Center - Springfield, Illinois
18 - Orpheum Theatre - Madison, Wisconsin
19 - The Intersection - Grand Rapids, Michigan **
20 - Egyptian Room @ Murat - Indianapolis, Indiana
21 - Piere's - Ft. Wayne, Indiana
22 - Hayloft - Mt. Clemens, Michigan **
23 - House Of Blues - Cleveland, Ohio
27 - House Of Blues - Atlantic City, New Jersey
28 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, New Jersey

March

1 - Club Zoo - Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
2 - Great Scott - Allston, Massachusetts **
3 - Webster Theatre - Hartford, Connecticut
4 - Lupo’s - Providence, Rhode Island
6 - The National - Richmond, Virginia
7 - Amos Southend - Charlotte, North Carolina
9 - The Valarium - Knoxville, Tennessee
10 - Shoreline Ballroom - Hilton Head, South Carolina
11 - Hooligans - Jacksonville, North Carolina **
12 - Volume 11 - Raleigh, North Carolina **
13 - House Of Blues - North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
14 - Palm Beach International Raceway - West Palm Beach, Florida
15 - The Ritz Theatre - Tampa, Florida
17 - House Of Blues - New Orleans, Louisiana
18 - Clear Channel Metroplex - Little Rock, Arkansas
19 - Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma **
20 - Horseshoe Arena - Midland, Texas
21 - Amphitheater - Lubbock, Texas
22 - Abilene Civic Center - Abilene, Texas
24 - Las Palmas Racetrack - Mission, Texas
25 - Expo Center - Belton, Texas
26 - Scout Bar - San Antonio, Texas **
27 - Aztec Music Hall - Amarillo, Texas
27 - Aztec Music Hall - Amarillo, Texas
28 - Palladium Ballroom - Dallas, Texas

April

9 - Islington Academy - London, UK
10 - Clwb Hor Bach - Cardiff, Wales
11 - Academy 2 - Sheffield, UK
13 - King Tut's - Glasgow, Scotland
14 - Academy 2 - Newcastle, UK
15 - Academy 3 - Manchester, UK
16 - Academy 2 - Birmingham, UK
17 - Brixton Academy - London, UK
19 - Academy - Manchester, UK

May

16 - venue tba - Tokyo, Japan
17 - Soma - Osaka, Japan
18 - Club Quattro - Nagoya, Japan
19 - Club Quattro - Tokyo, Japan