Label: Frontiers
Review By: Alan Holloway
A little excavation on The Treatment will reveal they are the band that Laurie Mansworth (Airrace) formed after he parted company with Heaven’s Basement. Not that he was actually in the band, but the man has always had a good ear and a keen talent for song writing. Heaven’s Basement were left to pull their own strings (and to be honest have never been as good as they once were) , whilst The Treatment took over with an extremely similar sound, not doubt thanks to Mr Mansworth. Their first two albums have been very agreeable, but a line up change sees album number three breaking new ground and finally turning The Treatment into real contenders for your hard earned cash.
Firmly retained is the sense that someone on the song writing side has a great appreciation for the likes of AC/DC and Airbourne, and this isn’t a bad thing. There’s a healthy dosage of bluesy rock and roll throughout, and the whole thing is brought to a new level by fresh out of the box vocalist Mitchell ‘Yes, I was On The Voice’ Emms. Let me tell you this guy is a real find, a superb vocalist with a classic screaming range that allows real power and passion to shine through every single track. I have to say that he may well just be the missing piece of the Treatment jigsaw, and having seen him perform with them last year I can confirm that he also kicks all kinds of arse live.
A good place to start is lead track ‘Let It Begin’, which has been pushed as the advance track. If you check it out on YouTube you’ll get a very good idea of what The Treatment 2016 is all about. It’s an in your face powerful foot stomper that gets in your head and refuses to leave. Now not all the tracks are as fast as this one, but all have a similar feel for melody and all have that special something that gets feet tapping and heads nodding. It’s the slower paced tracks (although there’s no ‘slow’ tracks, just fast and mid paced) that bring to mind AC/DC, whilst the faster ones are more like Airbourne, although don’t think for one minute The Treatment don’t also ladle on their own identity as well. Another band that pops up in my mind on adrenaline fuelled like ‘Generation Me’ and ‘Tell us The Truth’ is H.E.A.T, and it’s a compliment to The Treatment that they match the energy and spirit of such a well respected young band
‘Generation Me‘ is everything that I, personally, wanted from The Treatment. It’s punchy and powerful, and loaded with hooks and very stylish guitar playing (no doubt other new member Tao Grey has helped with this). The vocals are melodic with a raw edge and great control, and the aforementioned Mr Mansworth has provided a production that no one will have any complaints with. Several listens haven’t dulled my enthusiasm for what is as good a UK hard rock album as I have heard in the last 12 months. Have a listen, enjoy, and give them the support they deserve.
The Treatment are amazing! They are hard-working & talented and deserve more recognition than they have had so far. Will never tire of listening to them & going to their gigs.
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