Album Review :
Death Therapy - "Voices"

Death Therapy appeared on the scene for many with their debut album, “The Storm Before the Calm”, in early 2017. An album that just dripped of a mix of industrial and metal, it was met with a positive response from both fans and critics alike. It elicited such a positive response in fact, that even at the time, it was hard to ignore that it set a pretty high bar for whatever might come next. Fast forward to March 2019, just a little over two years later, and we’re about to find out how the new album, “Voices”, one of the more anticipated releases of 2019, stacks up.

Our first taste of this release was the track “My Defiance” (featuring Josh Kincheloe of Glasslands) which dropped back in February. This track really heightened anticipation and maybe even raised the already high expectations for “Voices” among everyone who gave it a listen. “My Defiance” was followed up by “Feels Like Fiction” (featuring Garrett Russell of Silent Planet) and later “It’s OK” (featuring Matt Baird of Spoken). So by now, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already gotten a fair taste of what you can expect from the new Death Therapy album, but let’s take a minute or two and dig a little deeper all the same.

The album opens with what I would call an intro track, “Vice of Voices”. It’s not really a full track in terms of the typical song structure, but it whets the audible appetite for what lies ahead in the next 8 tracks as it bleeds into the first full song, “My Defiance”. Immediately, you’re reminded of the first album, “The Storm Before the Calm”, by the drum and bass patterns, but the addition of Josh Kincheloe’s vocals to the choruses give it something of an update and it works really well.

I love the track that follows, “Feels Like Fiction”. This song is a strong deviation from what most fans of the band are familiar with in several ways. The bass line is clean and smooth, especially prominent throughout the verses as it guides you along, accompanied by a clean vocal from Wisdom where the tone and melody are just perfect. The clean vocals on the verses of this track really make the song for me and are very well contrasted by the aggressive crushing choruses. The guest vocal on the bridge by Garrett Russell of Silent Planet provides a great break in the song with its spoken word style finding a home beautifully over the harder edged music beneath. Very well done. This song is the highlight of the album for me.

The further in to “Voices” you get, the more you love it. As a follow up to “The Storm Before the Calm”, “Voices” delivers. Jason has taken the things that made the debut album great and has improved on them, while adding new elements that have created a very enjoyable listen. The most notable difference would be the vocals, with much more in the way of cleans, which were very well executed. The album seems very complimentary to the first, while at the same time being a very positive progression in songwriting. From the intro track to the closing “Darkening Counsel 1&2” (very Job), I can honestly say that if you enjoyed the first album, you’re bound to love this. Pick up “Voices” when it drops next Friday (you can still pre-order HERE) and be sure to catch Death Therapy on the road at the dates in the graphic below or at: Creation, Audiofeed, Lifest, Uprise Fest, Kingdom Come, and/or Rock the Desert.