Okay, time to get down to business! There have been several albums released this past month which I personally have been waiting for, and which I've been intending to review but didn't want to rush. Over the next few weeks I'll be putting the reviews up here, but this is the first, and it's been five years in the making, and let me tell you it's been a long five-year wait for the new album from Threshold, but it's been worth it!
March of progress --- Threshold --- 2012 (Nuclear Blast)
Ah, it's great to hear the boys back again! Those rolling whirly keyboards, that hard, grinding guitar and best of all Damian Wilson, last heard on vocals on 1997's “Extinct instinct” is back, and Theshold sound so much better for it. Which is not to denigrate the last few albums, but there's something about Wilson's voice that just has become the sound of this band, and it really is like stepping back ten years as “Ashes” opens the album in powerful style. Great guitar solos as ever from the reliable Karl Groom, and there are no short tracks on this album, with the shortest clocking in at over four minutes, while the longest is a ten-minute epic that closes the whole thing.
The power and energy that has always characterised Threshold is evident from the beginning, and the songs are both complicated and simple, if that's possible: definitely progressive metal at its very finest. It seems like the half-a-decade they spent away from recording has been to their benefit as they really sound rejuvenated here. I wasn't the biggest fan of their last album, “Dead reckoning”; though it was certainly a great album, I didn't feel it stood up to the likes of “Clone”, “Extinct instinct” and the superlative “Subsurface”, but this can stand shoulder to shoulder with anything the guys have done.
“Return of the thought police” is a slow, heavy, doomy cruncher with an ominous sound to it something in the vein of Shadow Gallery's “New world order”, with some very effective relaxed guitar and some booming organ chords courtesy of longtime keysman Richard West. Threshold are known among their fans for being able to go off on noodling keyboard solos or big, riffing fretfests but there's always a link back to the song; they don't solo just for the sake of it, and nothing they do ever seems superfluous or unnecessary In fact, there's no Threshold song I can think of that would be the same without, well, each and every part of it: talk about the whole being more than the sum of the parts.
Everything ramps back up then for “Staring at the sun”, with a big fast and hard guitar intro, some fine piano licks and Wilson sounding more than happy to be back in the fold. Another thing this band specialises in is memorable hooks and great choruses, and this song has both, changing tempo and flow as it goes, the more impressive as it's that shortest song I mentioned, coming it at just under four and a half minutes. It's definitely in the minority though, as this year's “The art of reason”, the almost eight-minute “Liberty, complacency, dependency” hits, with a Steve Rotheryesque guitar and some lovely bass patterns, and Threshold unleash some of their best politically-motivated lyrics in years:
”“Once there was a city left to ruin/ Alone and broken down. /The walls that once gave shelter/ Are levelled to the ground. /Powerless to cope for there was /No-one left to trust, /Nothing there to hope for/ When your dreams have turned to dust”. Threshold's songs often come across as angry at the state of the world, and this is no exception. Powerful, screaming guitar solo from Groom just makes the song, and then we're into “Colophon”. Yeah, they like using big and lesser-known words, too. I'm going to guess, from the few meanings cited here, and the lyric, that they're referring to the ancient Greek city, as they do like their history. It's a punchy song, with some great piano, but a little lacking when compared to the tracks that have preceded it.
Much better is “The hours”, with those unmistakable vocal harmonies and a real rocking beat, very commercial in many ways and could make a good single, if they were that bothered about such things, which I don't think they are really. A mixture of heavy guitar from Groom and almost radio-friendly keys from West makes this one of the standouts on the album so far. The mark of a good long song I feel is always that it doesn't
seem long, and this is over far too soon, despite being a little over eight minutes in length. It leads into the second-shortest track, but though “That's why we came” only misses out on the six-minute mark by twenty seconds, it's phenomenal. Another thing Threshold excel at, in my view, is that as well as being able to write complicated, involved, multi-faceted songs, they can just as easily pen the simplest and yet most beautiful ballads. Check “Sunrise on Mars” from “Clone” or “Mansion” from “Extinct instinct”, or even “Hypothetical”'s beautiful “Keep my head”. Well this is another to add to that illustrious catalogue.
Wilson outdoes himself and you can almost touch the emotion in his voice as he sings, this mirrored in Karl Groom's exquisite riffs and solo. Just perfect. A real example of breaking a song down to its simplest format, and just to underline this, it ends with a basic acoustic guitar line. Like I say, perfect. Then we're hurled headlong into “Don't look down”, as everything kicks off again with speed and power but always with melody, and a wonderful little keyboard run to get the song underway, a real hard rocker that shows the two sides of Threshold. Something of a showcase for Karl Groom, the song features an amazing solo from the man about halfway through that then changes the direction and theme of the piece as it mellows under Wilson's controlled, effortless vocal.
I'll tell you one thing: you would not believe Damian Wilson has been away from Threshold for so long! He sounds like he just finished recording the previous album a year or so ago. Admittedly, he was back for the 2007 tour to promote “Dead reckoning”, but prior to that he hadn't been singing with the band since 1997, and here he just fits right back in like the missing jigsaw piece. “Coda” has the barest of nods to Thin Lizzy's “Cold sweat”, but soon slips into its own inimitable groove and leaves such similarities behind, developing and evolving as it goes, which is sort of par for the course for any Threshold song: they really do epitomise the term “progressive rock”. Or metal, if you prefer. But they're certainly not a band to stand still, even after five years of inactivity.
After a real rollercoaster ride, we come to the final track, and as mentioned it's the longest, at just over ten minutes. “Rubicon” starts off slowly but quickly powers up and becomes a real prog-metal epic, with great guitar and a fine vocal delivery from Wilson, pin-sharp vocal harmonies and swirling keyboards and a certain eastern flavour in a Rainbow/Dio style about it. It's the perfect way to end what is, almost, a perfect album and certainly a massive comeback from a band who, having been away so long could have been thought of as having broken up. Far from it: Threshold are alive and kicking, and if this is the march of progress, I can't wait to see where it ends up!
I have high hopes that Marillion's new album will turn out to be my pick of 2012, but even if it does, I can easily see this as being a close runner-up. Hell, it might even beat Steve and the boys out for first place!
TRACKLISTING
1. Ashes
2. Return of the thought police
3. Staring at the sun
4. Liberty, complacency, dependency
5. Colophon
6. The hours
7. That's why we came
8. Don't look down
9. Coda
10. Rubicon
Amid all this gushing praise for Wilson and Threshold, I should stop for a moment and acknowledge the inestimable contribution of Andrew “Mac” MacDermott, who led the guys through five amazing albums --- including my alltime favourite “Subsurface” --- over almost a decade, and very sadly died last year. “Mac” will always have his deserved place in the history of Threshold, and the gratitude and respect of their fans.
The final word I leave to a plethora of reviews from various metal mags and sites, whose unanimously positive comments you can read below.
"A total triumph. In equal parts classy, thoughtful, emotive and intelligent."
Fireworks (UK)
"Every single note is pure magic. (10/10)"
Rock Hard (DE)
"A wonderful record."
Rock It! (DE)
"One of the hottest contenders for album of the year. (6/6)"
Metal Impressions (DE)
"An adventure of unparalleled musical landscapes."
Nu Rocks (ES)
"Must buy! (5/5)"
Stormbringer (AT)
"This is one excellent sounding release."
Sea Of Tranquility (US)
"An album of rare beauty."
Metal Integral (FR)
"Prog highlight of the year."
Metal Hammer (DE)
"Immaculate. (10/10)"
Powermetal (DE)
"The best progressive metal album in a long time."
Musik An Sich (DE)
"Likely the album of the year."
Metal Observer (US)
"Analogous to the Olympic Games in their home country, I hereby solemnly decorate the band with the gold medal for artful progging, for they're able to present ambitious music in a catchy cloak like no one else!"
My Revelations (DE)
"A must have for every rock and progressive music lover. (10/10)"
Metal Fields (DE)