THRESHOLD / Dividing Lines ......

[LarryD]

Just got it - The Lasers Edge flew it here in record time and I've been thru one pass and you can consider my ass kicked. This is hitting me much better than Legends did, and Glynn Morgan still sounds incredible. Those of you who have heard it already, know what I'm talking about. And at the risk of starting shit, and I don't mean to, this production blows the shit out of the Arena production and you can take that to the bank... the sub-bass on this disc is incredible, and twice I had to adjust my subwoofer for fear of it being blown to China. Absolutely deep, thunderous bass. I'm rejoicing on that aspect alone.

It's Threshold - you know what you're getting. Great melodies. Guitar crunch. Epic songs. Great vocals. It feels so good to hear one of our "classic" prog metal bands come out firing like this after all of these years. Did I say that Glynn Morgan sounds incredible ??

I have to say that I'm floored at how good this disc is. I did not expect it to hit me the way it did - only because I felt that after Legends (which I know lots liked) this would happen again, and I'm happy to say that it did not. This is one ass-kicking disc. Top 10 ten easily. As I'm writing this, my subwoofer is once again rattling in the hot zone, and I needed to adjust once again - those of you using a subwoofer please beware, I don't think I have heard deep bass like this on a Threshold disc to date.

This is how you come out firing -- after so many years of listening to this band, it is such a pleasure to sit here and bask in how good this one is. My highest recommendation on this one... if you were on the fence about Threshold, jump back over..... prepare to get your ass kicked, and play it LOUD if you can. The wife asked - " who is this ? " I told her it was Threshold, and she said " wow I don't remember them being this good, that singer is really awesome " ........yes he is.

[gazinwales]

You nailed it again, just got through my third play and it's amazing.
Sound wise it blows Legends right out of the water, I can hear the drums and bass clearly.
It's classic Threshold sounding, ticks all the boxes and then some more.
The melodies, songs and production, with Glynn in particular may have even taken them up a notch.

[LarryD]

You nailed it again, just got through my third play and it's amazing.
Sound wise it blows Legends right out of the water, I can hear the drums and bass clearly.
It's classic Threshold sounding, ticks all the boxes and then some more.
The melodies, songs and production, with Glynn in particular may have even taken them up a notch.

****Absolutely 100% !!!!!! Glynn is awesome here.

[LarryD]

This disc just continues to wow me ....... from the (finally) excellent production, to Glynn Morgan's fantastic performance, to the grand melodies and dramatic feel, this disc is going to post big time in the year end list.

I'd started to burn out on Threshold a few discs ago- when Legends failed to wow me like I thought it would, it confirmed how I was feeling. With this disc, the band sounds refreshed and renewed, and the wow factor is back in place. I'm not normally one to keep following a band that changes singers, but Threshold has not only managed to use singers who are some of my favs, but with each singer comes a different emotion. Funny how my first meeting with Threshold was with Wounded Land, and I wasn't floored by Damian's performance but I loved the music. With Psychedelicatessan, I loved both the music and the new singer (Glynn) and turns out to be my favorite Threshold disc. Years later, Damian has become one of my favorite vocalists of all time, and now back with Glynn this Threshold disc just blows me away......

What a ride - and I'm not sure many, if any, bands could pull off this type of roller coaster ride over as many years as they have ...... kudos !!!!!

[outprogged42]

I wasn't sure I'd like this one as much as the last because I prefer the proggier side of Threshold, despite knowing they can crank out a catchy chorus in a traditional song structure as good as anyone else, as long as there's enough heaviness too. Wounded Land is still a sentimental favorite because of all the neo-prog-isms throughout. I often compare Wounded Land to The Window of Life by Pendragon because of how similar in style they are despite the more metallic sound in Threshold, and both being released in 1993.

So at first I wasn't blown away by the three singles, but found them pretty adequate. However, just this evening I put the full album on and I was floored almost the whole way.

I think "it's Threshold - you know what you're getting" is selling this album quite short. I have every album all the way back to Clone, as well as Wounded Land, and have heard them all, and I kept getting surprised by new ideas throughout. It doesn't sound like the last album at all. Or any other Threshold album.

- Two songs where Glynn throws in growled vocals, including the massive call-and-response climax to the closing track
- Dystopian ambience, in the few ambient parts there are (it's a very heavy and sometimes grim album)
- Groove/modern elements added throughout, probably Glynn's doing (evidenced by King of Nothing, which he wrote all on his own). They work surprisingly really well, especially with Richard's keys and effects.
- Plenty of unexpected changes in the formula, like taking out guitars during section that feel like they need them at first, which gives a certain hollowness to the arrangement that allows for more space for other elements, or just empty space
- The few neo-prog passages feel more like IQ than the Pendragon comparisons I make quite often, especially at the beginning of The Domino Effect

The lyrical content is always a major highlight on a Threshold album and I think of Subsurface, but the 2022 edition of the state of the world rather than the 2004. We've lived through things like COVID-19, Trump's presidency, fake news, propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theory, governmental censorship, and cancel culture, and it sure feels like there's been a general breakdown of trust in authority and a fundamental uncertainty about what is true. They've always been concerned with this, but it's a bit more overt on this album than Subsurface and makes it more current-sounding.

The only criticism I have is that it feels like the two long songs have really neat intros that just end before developing fully, and the way the songs feel in the first verse don't feel like verses of long songs. It almost feels like the band tried too hard to be concise and they could have made the songs more complete without going on too long, even if they're already 11 minutes each.

Otherwise, a magnificent release that bucks my expectations of what Threshold could still conjure up after Legends of the Shires, which I called their best album ever.

[introclaus]

I wasn't sure I'd like this one as much as the last because I prefer the proggier side of Threshold, despite knowing they can crank out a catchy chorus in a traditional song structure as good as anyone else, as long as there's enough heaviness too. Wounded Land is still a sentimental favorite because of all the neo-prog-isms throughout. I often compare Wounded Land to The Window of Life by Pendragon because of how similar in style they are despite the more metallic sound in Threshold, and both being released in 1993.

So at first I wasn't blown away by the three singles, but found them pretty adequate. However, just this evening I put the full album on and I was floored almost the whole way.

I think "it's Threshold - you know what you're getting" is selling this album quite short. I have every album all the way back to Clone, as well as Wounded Land, and have heard them all, and I kept getting surprised by new ideas throughout. It doesn't sound like the last album at all. Or any other Threshold album.

- Two songs where Glynn throws in growled vocals, including the massive call-and-response climax to the closing track
- Dystopian ambience, in the few ambient parts there are (it's a very heavy and sometimes grim album)
- Groove/modern elements added throughout, probably Glynn's doing (evidenced by King of Nothing, which he wrote all on his own). They work surprisingly really well, especially with Richard's keys and effects.
- Plenty of unexpected changes in the formula, like taking out guitars during section that feel like they need them at first, which gives a certain hollowness to the arrangement that allows for more space for other elements, or just empty space
- The few neo-prog passages feel more like IQ than the Pendragon comparisons I make quite often, especially at the beginning of The Domino Effect

The lyrical content is always a major highlight on a Threshold album and I think of Subsurface, but the 2022 edition of the state of the world rather than the 2004. We've lived through things like COVID-19, Trump's presidency, fake news, propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theory, governmental censorship, and cancel culture, and it sure feels like there's been a general breakdown of trust in authority and a fundamental uncertainty about what is true. They've always been concerned with this, but it's a bit more overt on this album than Subsurface and makes it more current-sounding.

The only criticism I have is that it feels like the two long songs have really neat intros that just end before developing fully, and the way the songs feel in the first verse don't feel like verses of long songs. It almost feels like the band tried too hard to be concise and they could have made the songs more complete without going on too long, even if they're already 11 minutes each.

Otherwise, a magnificent release that bucks my expectations of what Threshold could still conjure up after Legends of the Shires, which I called their best album ever.

Wonderful review. Great job!

Yes I too prefer their proggier sound, and “Wounded Land” is my favorite as well. But even though this one here is very poppy, it’s just so well done. By now I’ve even begun loving the songs I hated at first

[LarryD]

I wasn't sure I'd like this one as much as the last because I prefer the proggier side of Threshold, despite knowing they can crank out a catchy chorus in a traditional song structure as good as anyone else, as long as there's enough heaviness too. Wounded Land is still a sentimental favorite because of all the neo-prog-isms throughout. I often compare Wounded Land to The Window of Life by Pendragon because of how similar in style they are despite the more metallic sound in Threshold, and both being released in 1993.

So at first I wasn't blown away by the three singles, but found them pretty adequate. However, just this evening I put the full album on and I was floored almost the whole way.

I think "it's Threshold - you know what you're getting" is selling this album quite short. I have every album all the way back to Clone, as well as Wounded Land, and have heard them all, and I kept getting surprised by new ideas throughout. It doesn't sound like the last album at all. Or any other Threshold album.

- Two songs where Glynn throws in growled vocals, including the massive call-and-response climax to the closing track
- Dystopian ambience, in the few ambient parts there are (it's a very heavy and sometimes grim album)
- Groove/modern elements added throughout, probably Glynn's doing (evidenced by King of Nothing, which he wrote all on his own). They work surprisingly really well, especially with Richard's keys and effects.
- Plenty of unexpected changes in the formula, like taking out guitars during section that feel like they need them at first, which gives a certain hollowness to the arrangement that allows for more space for other elements, or just empty space
- The few neo-prog passages feel more like IQ than the Pendragon comparisons I make quite often, especially at the beginning of The Domino Effect

The lyrical content is always a major highlight on a Threshold album and I think of Subsurface, but the 2022 edition of the state of the world rather than the 2004. We've lived through things like COVID-19, Trump's presidency, fake news, propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theory, governmental censorship, and cancel culture, and it sure feels like there's been a general breakdown of trust in authority and a fundamental uncertainty about what is true. They've always been concerned with this, but it's a bit more overt on this album than Subsurface and makes it more current-sounding.

The only criticism I have is that it feels like the two long songs have really neat intros that just end before developing fully, and the way the songs feel in the first verse don't feel like verses of long songs. It almost feels like the band tried too hard to be concise and they could have made the songs more complete without going on too long, even if they're already 11 minutes each.

Otherwise, a magnificent release that bucks my expectations of what Threshold could still conjure up after Legends of the Shires, which I called their best album ever.

****Great description indeed......obviously a huge Threshold fan, so cool to see ....... I'm a Psychedelicatessan man myself, having cut my teeth on Wounded Land, which I love, but Psyche just blew me away - I won't go into detail so as not to detract from the disc at hand, after reading all the thoughts on Legends, which didn't strike me nearly what this disc did, I need to go back and listen why. Again. I won't be eating crow as I would known by now if I loved that disc or not in the time period, but I would like to figure out exactly why it didn't click with me .....

[outprogged42]

****Great description indeed......obviously a huge Threshold fan, so cool to see ....... I'm a Psychedelicatessan man myself, having cut my teeth on Wounded Land, which I love, but Psyche just blew me away - I won't go into detail so as not to detract from the disc at hand, after reading all the thoughts on Legends, which didn't strike me nearly what this disc did, I need to go back and listen why. Again. I won't be eating crow as I would known by now if I loved that disc or not in the time period, but I would like to figure out exactly why it didn't click with me .....

Threshold are one of my all-time favorite bands and I could spend a few paragraphs explaining why, so I hold their albums to a sterling standard. I do, though, find Psychedelicatessen to be one of their least good albums. It exploits the very heavy and aggressive sound of Glynn's voice to the maximum and the material that's great, is really awesome. He could sound like a James Hetfield clone some of the time, particularly on Sunseeker. But he also had this rawness that fit some of the really dark and slow material like A Tension of Souls, as well as a melodic sense that came out on a song like Into the Light which I still find the best song on the album.

I just haven't found Psychedelicatessen to have as much staying power, as I listen primarily to the opening songs and not the second half. It doesn't really hold my attention the entire album because it doesn't seem to bring together the metal and prog parts as smoothly as they did later on, and mostly feels like a metal album with prog influences. Sunseeker is one example - the song smashes all the way through the second chorus, and then as soon as it switches into the melodic bridge, it feels like a really awkward transition. Lyrically it's often a quite impenetrable album and I still don't understand what a few of the songs are actually about. Typical for Jon at this point in his lyric writing, but just really hard on the listener.

Glynn never reached this level of raw power again, but he does make up for it with more finesse and catchy melodies in this era. You may be finding that he introduced some of that rawness back into Threshold on this album, because I think he did. It's more Glynn's album and Glynn's style, not Glynn singing what was supposed to be a Damian album, which might not have worked for you on the last one.

[GaetanL]

Great album!