Five
official studio releases, a live album, a fanclub release, tours with Dream
Theater, Psychotic Waltz,
Enchant and Pain Of
Salvation – Threshold
have already made their mark on the international rock scene. After several
line-up changes at the beginning of their career, the British band has been
a stable formation since 1998, continuously working on the development of
their unique sound. I’ve
always liked “Clone”. Even after the release of “Hypothetical”, it
was still my favourite. And I always thought it would be hard to beat, but
they did it. The
stability of the formation makes them sound even more as a unity then
before. There’s
more variation of music and sounds then on the previous albums. This album
is a bit less heavy and a bit more progressive then the previous, but
don’t worry, the typical Threshold-sound, fans know and like, is still
standing. Progmetal is still the best word to describe the style they play. I’ve
always heard that the strength of a musician lies not only in what he plays
but also in what he doesn’t. This wisdom has been applied in many songs on
this CD. Moments that the guitar is silent, which makes it a lot stronger
when it falls back in. The instruments on the album have been dosed very
well, a perfect production by Richard and Karl. Mac
has done a great job, as usual. He made us forget Damian. From time to time
I even hear a resemblance to Damian Wilson in his voice, especially in the
higher parts. Sometimes he uses a vocoder, or some other electronic adaptor
for the vocals. But I’m glad he doesn’t exaggerate with it. He was
already using this occasionally on their previous CD’s. The
award for the best progressive song of “Critical Mass” goes to “Echoes
Of Life”. It has all the necessary ingredients, a piano and vocals intro,
some heavier guitar solos, a beautiful ballad guitar solo, some keyboard
solos, several good vocal and other melody lines and several changes in
rhythm. This is not the only progressive song on this album. “Choices”,
“Falling Away” and “Critical Mass” are also nominees for this award.
“Choices” is a good example of a typical Threshold song, full of
variation. It contains after a quiet chorus, a chain of solos on keyboards
and guitars, switching between heavy, symphonic and soft. The strength of
Threshold is in fact the presence of heavy and quiet pieces in every song. Reviewed by: Danny 'Camil' Focke |
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