Saliva, Love, Lies & Therapy

Written By: Ron Whitemeyer

I have to admit, there’s a particular era of hard rock music I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to. It happened in the late nineties and it still going on now. A bridge that leads from bands like Alice in Chains and Nirvana, to bands like Pop Evil and Saliva. Down tuned guitars, super heavy riffs, and a hint of rap metal attitude. Melded with melodic vocals and good clean studio production. Is this what they once called Nu Metal? I’m not sure.

Saliva returns full of confidence and swagger on their ninth studio set. This album sounds really good in all the right spots. Big heavy down tuned guitars, the drums knock you upside the head, and the vocal harmonies compliment the melodies very well. It was produced by vocalist Bobby Amaru, who wrote or co-wrote all of the songs as well. He has proven to not only be a worthy replacement on vocals to Josey Scott, who departed the band in 2011 to pursue a career in Christian music. Amaru’s production work is top notch as well most bands don’t have this kind of success when a vocalist is replaced.

“Tragic Kind of Love” and album opener “Trust,” are heavy, catchy and ready for rock radio domination. Actually, there isn’t a song on here that couldn’t crack the top ten rock radio charts.

There are several ballads as well, that showcase the bands wide range and musical depth. “Breakdown” features delicate acoustic guitar strumming and a doubled vocal track, with just a touch of strings in the background. “Hand in Hand” is the albums closer, which is a song about suicide. Rock ballads don’t get any bigger than this. It starts with a beautifully executed Spanish inspired acoustic guitar. It doesn’t take long before the huge chorus kicks in and you feel the full weight of the subject at hand.

This is the kind of album that begs repeat listens. You won’t get these songs out of your head. You’ll just want to hear them again and again.

Love, Lies & Therapy track listing