Warthur The third Threshold studio album sees Damian Wilson return briefly on vocals, where he shows no sign of rust (having kept busy with Landmarq in the meantime) and lends his emotive style which was such an asset on the band's debut album, Wounded Land. Musically speaking this is of a piece with the band's other first two albums, the band further honing their craft in their chosen brand of prog metal with neo-prog influences rather than significantly evolving their sound at this stage, and whilst theirs might not be the most technically flashy brand of neo-prog out there, it manages to convey such a compelling, emotionally turbulent atmosphere that it grips you to the end. If you like any of their other early works, you'll find much to enjoy here.

Kev Rowland When their third album was released in 1997, some three years after ‘Psychedelicatessen’, not only did the band have a new drummer but also a ‘new’ singer. Glynn Morgan had replaced Damian Wilson after the debut, only for him to in turn be replaced by Damian Wilson. Damian would only hang around long enough for this album before being replaced by Mac, before coming back yet again after the release of ‘Dead Reckoning’ in 2007. But, at the time of this recording the future was yet to unfold and although Glynn had done a good job, many fans (me included) were pleased to have Damian back as the frontman.

I think of all of their albums, this is the one that takes the longest to make an impact and I have never been able to work out why, possibly most of the stronger songs are to the end? No idea. All I know is that each time I play it I start off by thinking that it is a 3* album but by the end I am convinced that it is a solid 4*, and that happens every time, and I hate to think how many times over the years I have played this. Maybe that’s the point. I first heard and reviewed this album when it came out some 15 years ago and I still play it. True, I have just been sent this to review by Nuclear Blast which is why I am playing it so much at the present, but Threshold have never gone out of favour with me from the time I first heard ‘Wounded Land’. By the time that was released I knew Karl from Shadowland and Strangers On A Train and Damian from his solo work and Landmarq, yet Threshold blew me away, and still do. The understanding between keyboard player Richard West and his guitar-toting colleagues is second to none, and bassist/backing singer Jon Jeary was an awesome presence during his tenure. Mostly more metal than prog, this is an album of different shades and colours and they all come together in “Forever” which is a ballad, a symphonic masterpiece, and a brooding metallic monster all in under five minutes.

By the time ‘Clone’ came out the following year Damian was gone, and this album gets somewhat overlooked by many, but if you want metallic prog with stunning vocals, great melodies and musicianship then this is worthy of discovery. www.nuclearblast.de

SouthSideoftheSky My instinct is not extinct!

I first fell in love with the voice of Damian Wilson when I heard him singing for Rick Wakeman, first on the great studio album Out There (which, in my opinion, is Rick Wakeman's best studio album in many, many years), and then on the very good live DVD Rick Wakeman's New English Rock Ensemble - Live In Buenos Aires (despite a couple of slight vocal mistakes by Wilson there). When I found out that Wilson had previously been in a band called Threshold I decided to check them out. I was not disappointed! (It is not entirely unlikely that this album influenced Rick Wakeman to pick Wilson out for the band!?)

By now I have heard several other albums by Threshold, but Extinct Instinct was the first one I searched out and is also by far the best one in my opinion. My decision to start with this album was, as I have already hinted at, the presence of Damian Wilson (who only sings on two Threshold albums; this one and the debut). But there was also something about the cover art that drew my attention. The fallen stone cross reminded me very much of Black Sabbath's Headless Cross album and the old Nordic look on the cover reminded me of that same bands' TYR album (both much underrated albums and personal favourites of mine). I went by my instinct and got this album! And indeed, Extinct Instinct has some similarities with Black Sabbath in the heavy riff-based parts and the thundering bass guitar that sometimes reminds of Geezer Butler's style. However, Threshold is a much more melodious and also more progressive band.

Since Threshold is sometimes known as 'the British Dream Theater', I must mention them as well. There are indeed some similarities here, but I would not say that Threshold are copying Dream Theater by any means. Compared to Dream Theater, the sound of Threshold is more based on melody and riffs than instrumental workout. The Jazz/Rock Fusion influence which is sometimes strong in Dream Theater's music is not so here. Threshold also seems largely oblivious about American Thrash Metal (an influence that often dominates Dream Theater's sound far too much in my opinion). The sound of Extinct Instinct is perhaps closer to classic British Heavy Metal with influences from Neo-Prog and some more melodious forms of metal.

Extinct Instinct features strong material with a well balanced mix between heavy riffs, tempo changes, (acoustic) ballads and (shorter) keyboard and guitar solos. The keyboards are largely organ and symphonic synthesisers in the background with some piano parts and occasionally some synthesiser solos. The musicianship is very strong but you never get the feeling that they are just showing off (which is the case with some Prog-Metal). Karl Groom is a great guitarist. It is hard to pick out favourites since this is a very even album, with no weak tracks in my opinion. But the softer songs like Forever and Clear really create a nice contrast to the heavier songs which lifts the whole album.

This is one of the better Prog-Metal albums that I have heard! Highly recommended!