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Trollheart · 07-01-2011, 05:49 PM

Subsurface --- Threshold --- 2004 (InsideOut)

This album was my first introduction to UK progressive metal band Threshold, and it's a corker! So good in fact that I then went and acquired the rest of their catalogue, which is just as good. It's their seventh studio album, and their fifth to feature longtime vocalist Andrew “Mac” McDermott, their three previous albums having had different singers. It only has 9 tracks on it, but there isn't a bad one among them, and that's a rare thing indeed for any album.

These are serious, deep guys and you'll find no “rock all night” lyrics here, nor any (well, one) songs about girls. You can tell they're thinkers just by looking at the sleeve, where a TV set is reflected in the lake. On the screen is the word “REFLECT” and in the reflection is the word “CONCEPT” or possibly “CONCEIT”, not sure which, but either way it's an eye-catchng cover and a statement of intent made before you even hit PLAY. So, what about the music? Interesting album sleeves and concepts are all very good, but let's be honest, it's the music we want to know about, yes?

It gets going with a real rocker, “Mission profile”, laying down the marker from the start. Threshold tend to use politics a lot in their lyrics, and this is no exception, though the politics get much heavier and involved later. McDermot's voice is clear and distinctive, bursting with power and emotion as he sings ”We've got a system, you're going to use it/ We call it freedom and you are free to choose it/ If you're not against it you've got to be for it/ Neutral is dangerous and you cannot ignore it .” Never guys to sit on the fence, Threshold espouse getting involved, seeing what's going on and trying to do something about it. Karl Groom lets loose with guitar solos on this track, and gets involved in a battle with keyboard player Richard West. It's glorious to behold.

Interestingly, West wrote or co-wrote every song on this album. Talented guy! The politics come thick and fast, and if you're someone to whom the lyrics are important AND you hate politics, you may find it hard to like this album, as it is VERY political --- you thought Floyd's “The final cut” was loaded with political messages? That has nothing on “Subsurface”! But if you are the sort of person who loves good prog metal and well-thought out and executed songs, and aren't bothered about the political messages behind the lyrics, you'll enjoy this album. The music is never anything less than powerful, forceful and technically proficient, but always melodic, in fact, there are so many hooks on this album it's a wonder more singles weren't released from it. It IS heavy though, and the tempo hardly lets up at all right through the recording. If you're looking for something to relax to after a hard day, this ain't it!

“Ground control” features a truly wonderful guitar solo halfway through, and some extremely thought-provoking lyrics: ”And everything our fathers made/ And everything they fought to save/ Is trampled under this parade /And nothing's going to stop them now/ Their policy will know no bounds/ As soon as they control the ground.” There's a definitive, unambiguous sense of a faceless “they” upon whom Threshold lay the evils of the world, and in this way the theme is quite similar to Shadow Gallery's “Tyranny”, reviewed a few pages back. I love the line ”Under the flag of liberty you'll find corruption lurking/ It's our responsibility to keep the system working .”

Mass media is tackled in “Opium” next, as we're told [i]”They'll print it on the front page /To synthesise an outrage/ But all we find is a decoy once again/ Duplicity and trickery surround us /Till all believe there is no other way.” It's a slower song, though not in any way a ballad! Crunching, angry guitars, pounding drums courtesy of Johanne James, and bursts of piano all work to make this a truly epic song, with McDermott's growling vocal riding above it all. Thing speed up then for “Stop dead”, but it's the next track, the monumental “The art of reason” that becomes the albums's piece de resistance, with its lyric (I believe) firmly directed towards former President George W. Bush with lyrics like ”We thought you'd do your best for future generations/ But all you left was a mounting debt (i don't believe that it's right)/ We thought your peace could flow like water through the nations/ But you shut down the fountainhead (i don't believe that it's right)” It's a long song, and at over ten minutes easily the longest track on the album. It's absolutely epic. Great vocal harmonies against a really dramatic melody; you can almost hear the nations of the world crying out against the injustice.

The track starts off slow and grinding, but as the anger mounts it picks up speed, and the guitars really get going, with the drums pumping like steamhammers. There's also a killer chorus: ”It was there right before our eyes / We were blind not to realise /In the rush to be globalised we signed away our freedom/ We forgot how to criticise / We were scared to be demonised / As the truth was neutralised we lost the art of reason.” Telling stuff, indeed. But again, if you're not into the lyric, listen to this for the quality of the music, and you won't be disappointed.

After an epic track like that you'd think the boys would take a breather, but nothing doing. “Pressure” is another fast rocker, keeping up the, ah, pressure, and it's not until the following track that we get the first ballad on the album, the sublime “Flags and footprints”. Taking a break from the politics for once, this is a pure love song, albeit a tragic one: ”But I believed in what you said / I trusted in your summer/ Now the leaves are turning red /And soon they'll all be coming down/ How can I go on/ If hope is what keeps me alive/ And I'm so uncertain?” In true Threshold fashion, it starts off heavy, with snarling guitar and pounding drums, but soon settles into a nice piano-driven melody, backed by lighter guitar. And no doubt you're asking yourself what the title means? Well, according to the lyric [i]”Maybe my research was sound / But maybe I just fooled around/ All flags and footprints but nothing further down /To find you, to find you.” Yeah, I don't know what it means either. Beautiful song though.

“Static” gets things moving one last time before the closing track and the second ballad on the album brings down the curtain on a wonderful record. “The destruction of words”, which is just sublime (yeah, I know I've used that word before, but really, nothing else fits. So sue me!), with excellent harmonies and a great melody, but since its central theme is the absence of words, it's best just to listen to it rather than talk about it.

“Subsurface” may seem like Threshold at their best, but if you know them, you will know that they have other albums just as good. That's the great part, I always find, in discovering new artistes. There's nothing more annoying than coming across a brilliant album, only to find the band didn't make another one or haven't yet. Thankfully, Threshold's current discography holds a total of eight studio albums, and there's a new one in the works for later this year. I for one can't wait!

TRACKLISTING

1. Mission profile
2. Ground control
3. Opium
4. Sop dead
5. The art of reason
6. Pressure
7. Flags and footprints
8. Static
9. The destruction of words

Suggested further listening: “Clone”, “Psychedelicatessen”, “Dead reckoning”, “Critical mass”, “Extinct instinct”, “Wounded land” and “Hypothetical”

07-01-2011, 05:49 PM	#56 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Subsurface --- Threshold --- 2004 (InsideOut) This album was my first introduction to UK progressive metal band Threshold, and it's a corker! So good in fact that I then went and acquired the rest of their catalogue, which is just as good. It's their seventh studio album, and their fifth to feature longtime vocalist Andrew “Mac” McDermott, their three previous albums having had different singers. It only has 9 tracks on it, but there isn't a bad one among them, and that's a rare thing indeed for any album. These are serious, deep guys and you'll find no “rock all night” lyrics here, nor any (well, one) songs about girls. You can tell they're thinkers just by looking at the sleeve, where a TV set is reflected in the lake. On the screen is the word “REFLECT” and in the reflection is the word “CONCEPT” or possibly “CONCEIT”, not sure which, but either way it's an eye-catchng cover and a statement of intent made before you even hit PLAY. So, what about the music? Interesting album sleeves and concepts are all very good, but let's be honest, it's the music we want to know about, yes? It gets going with a real rocker, “Mission profile”, laying down the marker from the start. Threshold tend to use politics a lot in their lyrics, and this is no exception, though the politics get much heavier and involved later. McDermot's voice is clear and distinctive, bursting with power and emotion as he sings ”We've got a system, you're going to use it/ We call it freedom and you are free to choose it/ If you're not against it you've got to be for it/ Neutral is dangerous and you cannot ignore it .” Never guys to sit on the fence, Threshold espouse getting involved, seeing what's going on and trying to do something about it. Karl Groom lets loose with guitar solos on this track, and gets involved in a battle with keyboard player Richard West. It's glorious to behold. Interestingly, West wrote or co-wrote every song on this album. Talented guy! The politics come thick and fast, and if you're someone to whom the lyrics are important AND you hate politics, you may find it hard to like this album, as it is VERY political --- you thought Floyd's “The final cut” was loaded with political messages? That has nothing on “Subsurface”! But if you are the sort of person who loves good prog metal and well-thought out and executed songs, and aren't bothered about the political messages behind the lyrics, you'll enjoy this album. The music is never anything less than powerful, forceful and technically proficient, but always melodic, in fact, there are so many hooks on this album it's a wonder more singles weren't released from it. It IS heavy though, and the tempo hardly lets up at all right through the recording. If you're looking for something to relax to after a hard day, this ain't it! “Ground control” features a truly wonderful guitar solo halfway through, and some extremely thought-provoking lyrics: ”And everything our fathers made/ And everything they fought to save/ Is trampled under this parade /And nothing's going to stop them now/ Their policy will know no bounds/ As soon as they control the ground.” There's a definitive, unambiguous sense of a faceless “they” upon whom Threshold lay the evils of the world, and in this way the theme is quite similar to Shadow Gallery's “Tyranny”, reviewed a few pages back. I love the line ”Under the flag of liberty you'll find corruption lurking/ It's our responsibility to keep the system working .” Mass media is tackled in “Opium” next, as we're told [i]”They'll print it on the front page /To synthesise an outrage/ But all we find is a decoy once again/ Duplicity and trickery surround us /Till all believe there is no other way.” It's a slower song, though not in any way a ballad! Crunching, angry guitars, pounding drums courtesy of Johanne James, and bursts of piano all work to make this a truly epic song, with McDermott's growling vocal riding above it all. Thing speed up then for “Stop dead”, but it's the next track, the monumental “The art of reason” that becomes the albums's piece de resistance, with its lyric (I believe) firmly directed towards former President George W. Bush with lyrics like ”We thought you'd do your best for future generations/ But all you left was a mounting debt (i don't believe that it's right)/ We thought your peace could flow like water through the nations/ But you shut down the fountainhead (i don't believe that it's right)” It's a long song, and at over ten minutes easily the longest track on the album. It's absolutely epic. Great vocal harmonies against a really dramatic melody; you can almost hear the nations of the world crying out against the injustice. The track starts off slow and grinding, but as the anger mounts it picks up speed, and the guitars really get going, with the drums pumping like steamhammers. There's also a killer chorus: ”It was there right before our eyes / We were blind not to realise /In the rush to be globalised we signed away our freedom/ We forgot how to criticise / We were scared to be demonised / As the truth was neutralised we lost the art of reason.” Telling stuff, indeed. But again, if you're not into the lyric, listen to this for the quality of the music, and you won't be disappointed. After an epic track like that you'd think the boys would take a breather, but nothing doing. “Pressure” is another fast rocker, keeping up the, ah, pressure, and it's not until the following track that we get the first ballad on the album, the sublime “Flags and footprints”. Taking a break from the politics for once, this is a pure love song, albeit a tragic one: ”But I believed in what you said / I trusted in your summer/ Now the leaves are turning red /And soon they'll all be coming down/ How can I go on/ If hope is what keeps me alive/ And I'm so uncertain?” In true Threshold fashion, it starts off heavy, with snarling guitar and pounding drums, but soon settles into a nice piano-driven melody, backed by lighter guitar. And no doubt you're asking yourself what the title means? Well, according to the lyric [i]”Maybe my research was sound / But maybe I just fooled around/ All flags and footprints but nothing further down /To find you, to find you.” Yeah, I don't know what it means either. Beautiful song though. “Static” gets things moving one last time before the closing track and the second ballad on the album brings down the curtain on a wonderful record. “The destruction of words”, which is just sublime (yeah, I know I've used that word before, but really, nothing else fits. So sue me!), with excellent harmonies and a great melody, but since its central theme is the absence of words, it's best just to listen to it rather than talk about it. “Subsurface” may seem like Threshold at their best, but if you know them, you will know that they have other albums just as good. That's the great part, I always find, in discovering new artistes. There's nothing more annoying than coming across a brilliant album, only to find the band didn't make another one or haven't yet. Thankfully, Threshold's current discography holds a total of eight studio albums, and there's a new one in the works for later this year. I for one can't wait! TRACKLISTING 1. Mission profile 2. Ground control 3. Opium 4. Sop dead 5. The art of reason 6. Pressure 7. Flags and footprints 8. Static 9. The destruction of words Suggested further listening: “Clone”, “Psychedelicatessen”, “Dead reckoning”, “Critical mass”, “Extinct instinct”, “Wounded land” and “Hypothetical” __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 10-24-2019 at 07:52 PM.