Therapy? They never disappoint me! They may lack the projection of the distant past (and I’m trying to understand why, since their music is still relevant), but their recording presence is continuous, with strictly speaking, one album every three years for the past 15 years, minus the two years of the recent quarantine.
On “Hard Cold Fire” the Northern Irishmen do nothing different from what they’ve been used to all these years, or perhaps here they might do a few more. This is an excellent album with their well-known “gasses” combined with very good melodies, an element that has always characterized them. Therapy? never experimented in their music. What makes them stand out from a lot of other musicians is that from the beginning they play exactly the same style – with few exceptions – but they play it so, so well.
Yes, we will always miss “Stories”, “Nowhere”, “Knives” and so many others, as well as their unique covers, but “They Shoot The Terrible Master”, “Joy”, “To Disappear”, “Mongrel”, “Ugly”, probably the best track of the album, is not that far from the above in power, quality and endless energy. The album’s closing track “Days Kollaps” (suspected ballad) is also excellent.
I would describe “Hard Cold Fire” as a classic Therapy? album and I think even their most die-hard fans will agree on that. I hope to hear a lot of material from this album in February when they visit Athens once again.
