At the age of 18/19 I had three interests in life,the first of which was beer, the second was heavy metal and the third was girls. There was a reason for putting them into that order and that was simply because beer was easily obtainable, heavy metal made me feel like I finally belonged to a group/movement and bringing up the rear ( if you pardon the expression ) was girls because if you were heavily into heavy metal the chances of getting girls were virtually non existent anyway.My only recognisable talents at that time were being able to find a train home from pretty much anywhere whilst pissed, driving an untaxed and uninsured car without getting caught and growing long hair much to my family’s irritation. Fast forward 25 years and teenagers these days seem to fall into 2 very different categories namely the feral youth who are left to roam the streets causing chaos attracting all the headlines and the uber talented who find that all of a sudden once school ends,the world is at their feet and it is a joyous one full of milk and honey.The Treatment fall into the latter category.Massively.
When a normally quite reserved chum of mine suddenly announced on Facebook that he had listened to an album that had blown him away I had to take notice. I had a long car journey to complete the following day and was in the mood to try some new songs so asked him what the stand out tracks were and he told me to download ‘ the doctor’ and ‘ stone cold love’ which I duly did and then forgot all about it. On the way home the following day, having been bored stiff by my day and the radio, I plugged my iPod in and set it to shuffle and was instantly smashed in the face by what turned out to be ‘stone cold love’. So amazed was I by what I has heard that once it ended I replayed it but this time at a proper volume and then played ‘the doctor’ which was also quite frankly stunning. Luckily for me I found myself stuck in the usual Friday rush hour traffic jam where the M1 meets the M25 which allowed me to download the rest of the album.
There is no labouring, mood building introduction with this album. So, ‘Departed’ kicks things off with a confident swagger, and Matt Jones voice makes you sit up and take notice instantly: think Steven Tyler singing with acdc and that’s exactly where we are. Twin guitar harmonies from Tag Grey and Ben Brookland keep to the acdc blueprint coupled with Aerosmith’s power and groove which form the bands sound right from track 1. The aforementioned ‘The Doctor’ continues the theme before a Bon Jovi style,stadium filling chorus of ‘ I Want Love’ beckons in track 3 and It certainly doesn’t stretch the imagination too much to envisage this song on an MTV play list.’Just Tell Me Why’ slows the pace down just a little and has a Led Zeppelin feel to it before ‘ d***k,f**k,f***t’ reverts to type and rocks out with yet another catchy riff and chorus. This album is now reminding me of a little known album I bought I the 90’s by a band called Roxy Blue called ‘Want some?’, Killer riffs, gravel voiced vocals and a swagger and confidence that makes you want to play it loud, over and over again.
‘Nothing to lose but our minds’ is another sing-a-long in a Def Leppard style before ‘shake the Mountain’ arrives sounding like what would happen if ACDC and Guns n Roses collaborated and wrote a killer song together. ‘I fear nothing’ and ‘Winter sun’ are slower paced bassier, zepp style and it’s become clear where their influences have come from, but unlike almost every other wannabes these guys have the talent to match their ambitions.’Lady of the light’ starts in the same way, lulling me into thinking that more of the same is to come and it’s just going to end up as a zepp tribute album but fear not as the best riff of any year arrives and all of a sudden there isn’t enough volume in the world to listen to this with: this is the reason why ears were invented. I had a car once that had more decibels than horsepower and god I wish I still had it so I could drive around while being a bloody nuisance to this riff. I actually found myself air drumming to this while stuck in traffic much to the amusement of the guy next to me! This riff alone is worth the entrance money alone.’Road rocket’ leads the charge round the final bend towards the end of the album,sounding like it could have been on pyromania all those years ago then the aforementioned ‘stone cold love’ which is just the best f*****g song I’ve heard in a very long time.’I will be there’ finishes the album in an almost bluesy rock style packing a killer chorus before a stripped down acoustic version of ‘just tell me why’ which reminds me of Jon Bon Jovi’s ‘ blaze of glory’ which if I’m honest doesn’t add a great deal to the album but if a chilled out way to end it nonetheless. I realise that making references to all these past rock/metal bands compares The Treatment to an age gone by but the truth is far from it. People far more knowledgeable than me will be able to make more current comparisons and here is an album that is very much now in sound if not in influence and it should be judged on that basis.
Calling this a metal album may be unfair as it could put a number of people off buying it but it shouldn’t although Listening to it relentlessly over the last few weeks has actually made me question if this is metal at all. Metal isn’t meant to be commercial and it’s doesn’t always translate to a global audience but this album is a multimillion seller waiting to happen and I can’t remember the last time I discovered a band that ticked everyone of my box’s. If there is any justice in this world they will get massive amounts of air play all over the world, make millions, stay together and make many more albums like this. I would urge you to buy this album.
Oh, and they are all teenagers. Annoying isn’t it.
Straight from the tap 