THERAPY? Beat METALLICA With New Towering Album 'HARD COLD FIRE'

9 May 2023

Northern Irish rock heroes Therapy? are survivors. They went through a lot, good and
bad things since they hit the scene back in 1989, but they’re not quitters. The release of their new, 11th LP baptized HARD COLD FIRE is solid gold proof of that.

(Press photo)

I’m not gonna dissect Hard Cold Fire song by song, I leave that to professional critics.
I rather express what I think of it this way. Last month noise giants Metallica released their new album 72 Seasons and when I heard Therapy?‘s new opus my ears told me right away that there’s a similar hard-hitting, sky-scraping wall-of-big-banging sound between the two longplayers. Similar, not identical, it’s not like they are copies, whatsoever.

So, what’s the difference between these two splendid records? Hard Cold Fire feels more like it comes from the heart and soul of the makers than from a fans-first mind, from indie-land instead of corporate-land, more like what-you-hear-is-what-we-stand-for than what-you-hear-is-what-our-producer-registrated. Mind you, I still think 72 Seasons is top, but Hard Cold Fire hits me inside out and therefore my ears and my emotions conclude that Therapy? beats Metallica.

Singles/clips: Joy / Proudland Of Hope And Glory

– JOY –