SPIRITBOX’s COURTNEY LAPLANTE Picks Toxicity As One Of The Albums That Changed Her Life

If you’ve delved into Spiritbox‘s dynamic and varied discography, it becomes evident that the Canadian band pulls from a broad range of influences.

That becomes more evident if you read a recent interview with Metal Hammer where Spiritbox‘s lead vocalist Courtney LaPlante highlighted the diverse inspirations behind her music for their 10 Albums That Changed My Life series. Among the most significant? System Of A Down‘s Toxicity, a 2001 album that profoundly shaped her approach to songwriting.

“Toxicity came out in 2001, but it was a few years later when I started really actually listening to how wild that album was,” LaPlante revealed. “It is still to this day one of the strangest albums I’ve ever heard. The way everything is recorded, it doesn’t feel super tight and to a click, it feels wild and like an actual band performance. It started to teach me that you can have all the different colors of your voice in one song. You can have beautiful singing, crazy yelling, and then aggressive fast talking.”

LaPlante emphasized the band’s uncompromising approach to their music. “System Of A Down are such an inspiration to me for never compromising on their sound. I first started on the singles and when I was older I heard ‘Prison Song,’ ‘Deer Dance’ and that stuff, and that’s when I was starting to make my own material. So those songs really inspired me to start toying with heavier music.”

Toxicity’s rawness and unpredictability left a lasting impression on LaPlante, inspiring her to experiment with the extremes of her vocal range and adding emotional depth to her performance.