I first heard Infernal Love by Therapy? during the summer months of 1995. As a teenager, it was immediately one of those albums where you know after a short time: I need to buy this. Visually, it has stayed with me to this day as well. That transparent side cover had something distinctive about it and stood out straight away on the CD shelf.
What grabbed me right away back then was its modern, fresh style that never sounds too polished. Infernal Love has drive, melody, and edge, but in many places it also feels surprisingly open and at times melancholic. That is exactly what I liked so much about it, and it is what still makes the album special to me today. I still enjoy listening to it now, because it not only brings back a certain time, but also carries its own atmosphere even today.
Looking back, it is fascinating how consistently Therapy? broke away from simple expectations here. After Troublegum, a straightforward next step would have seemed the obvious move. Instead, Infernal Love sounds bigger, darker, and more atmospheric. Later reviews often highlighted exactly that side of it: not just heaviness, but also depth, contrast, and an almost cinematic flow.
Epilepsy and Stories draw you in immediately. After that, the album opens up even more. A Moment of Clarity, Jude the Obscene, and Bowels of Love take some of the pace out, leave more room, and show how strongly the band can build tension without relying on constant attack. David Holmes’ interludes give the CD an additional frame and a character of its own.
With Misery and Loose, the album gathers more forward momentum again without losing its distinct identity. The song that stays with me most is Diane. It has something cold, fragile, and restless about it that lingers for a long time. Bad Mother, Me Vs You, and 30 Seconds also help make the album unfold more as a coherent whole than through quick individual effects.
Maybe that is exactly why Infernal Love is an underrated rock album. It is not the obvious record, not the easiest one, and maybe not the most instantly accessible either. But that is precisely where its strength lies. Anyone who reduces Therapy? to their better-known, more direct moments misses an album here with its own color, its own mood, and a surprising amount of substance.