Album Review: Black Therapy – In the Embrace of Sorrow, I Smile (Apostasy Records)

In the Embrace of Sorrow, I Smile is the new album from the melodic death metal band Black Therapy & is out now via Apostasy Records. You can pick the album up over on their bandcamp page.

The piano opening of In the Embrace of Sorrow, I Smile makes it perfectly clear that this is a sombre listen but one that will likely to be filled with beautiful moments that inspire. It’s minute & a half melody builds & builds before exploding into the title track.

…and what a explosion it is. This is how you flow one song to another, it will get the hairs standing up on the back of your neck.

Hard, heavy, fast…it ticks all the melodic death metal boxes except it’s got stunning riff work & it plays out more like a balls to the wall heavy metal album. The drum beat & dirty high vocals are what puts this into the darker side of metal, hardly a negative as both elements are stunning.

It’s all about the guitar work though & backed up by a more classical instrument style. Every time you think you’ve heard everything this album has to offer it hits back with something that will leave you open-mouthed.

The near 4 minute interlude of Paintings of a Black Ocean is enough to reduce you to tears. The subtle melody with almost spoken word vocals really is an amazing piece of music that makes you re-appreciate the heaviness that exists elsewhere. Simply put, it’s beautiful.

It’s incredibly difficult to find faults, any holes picked at because everything is so top-notch, some songs aren’t quite as fantastic as others & that’s about it. 10 tracks, 43 minutes of intense metal mixed with gorgeous melodies, this is an album that needs to be heard by everyone.

Full Track Listing:

1. Tears of Innocence
2. In the Embrace of Sorrow, I Smile
3. The Foolishness of Existence
4. Stabbed
5. She, The Weapon
6. Paintings of a Black Ocean
7. Voices in My Head
8. Theogony
9. The Final Outcome
10. Infected

You can pick up In the Embrace of Sorrow, I Smile from Black Therapy’s bandcamp page as well as through Apostasy Records.  You can find more out about the band through their website, on Facebook, on Instagram & on Twitter.

You can also pick up some of their merch over on bigcartel!