THRESHOLD CRITICAL MASS
Inside Out Music - 2002
By Rodrigo Escandon
Listening to Threshold and their albums I seem to come up with the tag line from the Chevrolet commercials that Nothing is as dependable as a Chevy. When I listen to Critical Mass that same line can be changed by substituting Chevy with Threshold because to this date the English prog-rockers have yet to release a bad album and with Critical Mass they have released their best album to date.
Absolutely everybody in this band is in top form. The guitar duo of Nick Midson and Karl Groom is simply superb. With a wide array of melodies and an added extra crunch to the guitars, Critical Mass is their heaviest output. The rhythm section of bassist Jon Jeary and drummer Johanne James provide the perfect backbone throughout the entire album. Keyboardist Richard West provides a lush and atmospheric context to round out the music. At times he may just stay in the background but in songs like Avalon and especially in Echoes of Life his keyboards take center stage. Finally, Macs voice is strong and dynamic enough to rise above the music and take charge. This is a singer with the utmost confidence to carry the songs.
Choices is simply my favorite song of the album due to the fact that each point I have made about each of the band members is exemplified to the maximum. The song immerses the listener into the heavier guitar sound with some excellent leads from the guitars , atmospheric keyboards, which also have the moment to have the spotlight with leads of its own, powerful drumming and Macs singing that transcends especially during the chorus. Choices is not only the best song from this album but easily one of the best songs from this musical genre. Not to be outdone is the 13-minute title track that shows a more technical side to the band and it is everything that Choices is but to a bigger scale and it is very easy to differentiate the three parts of the song. The first being the speedy and heavy part, the second being the slower, melodic and Pink Floyd-like section and finally the last section lead by the acoustic guitars and with an abrupt ending that has you wanting for more.
Simply put Critical Mass is an album that every fan of this genre should own and right now it stands one of the top 3 prog releases of the year.
Inside Out Website
Threshold Official Website
Inside Out Music - 2002
By Rodrigo Escandon
Listening to Threshold and their albums I seem to come up with the tag line from the Chevrolet commercials that Nothing is as dependable as a Chevy. When I listen to Critical Mass that same line can be changed by substituting Chevy with Threshold because to this date the English prog-rockers have yet to release a bad album and with Critical Mass they have released their best album to date.
Absolutely everybody in this band is in top form. The guitar duo of Nick Midson and Karl Groom is simply superb. With a wide array of melodies and an added extra crunch to the guitars, Critical Mass is their heaviest output. The rhythm section of bassist Jon Jeary and drummer Johanne James provide the perfect backbone throughout the entire album. Keyboardist Richard West provides a lush and atmospheric context to round out the music. At times he may just stay in the background but in songs like Avalon and especially in Echoes of Life his keyboards take center stage. Finally, Macs voice is strong and dynamic enough to rise above the music and take charge. This is a singer with the utmost confidence to carry the songs.
Choices is simply my favorite song of the album due to the fact that each point I have made about each of the band members is exemplified to the maximum. The song immerses the listener into the heavier guitar sound with some excellent leads from the guitars , atmospheric keyboards, which also have the moment to have the spotlight with leads of its own, powerful drumming and Macs singing that transcends especially during the chorus. Choices is not only the best song from this album but easily one of the best songs from this musical genre. Not to be outdone is the 13-minute title track that shows a more technical side to the band and it is everything that Choices is but to a bigger scale and it is very easy to differentiate the three parts of the song. The first being the speedy and heavy part, the second being the slower, melodic and Pink Floyd-like section and finally the last section lead by the acoustic guitars and with an abrupt ending that has you wanting for more.
Simply put Critical Mass is an album that every fan of this genre should own and right now it stands one of the top 3 prog releases of the year.
Inside Out Website
Threshold Official Website
