THRESHOLD - Dividing Lines

THRESHOLD

Album: Dividing Lines

Genre: Progmetal

Release Date: November 18th, 2022

Country: UK

Label: Nuclear Blast

Band Links: WEBSITE / BANDCAMP / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK

Having been around for over three decades and looking back at a marvelous discography, it would be easy for UK proggers THRESHOLD to rest on their well-earned laurels. Fortunately they don’t and offer a new album for our listening pleasure with “Dividing Lines”, which sees the same line-up as their previous masterpiece “Legends of the Shires”, and is out on November 18th via Nuclear Blast.

The record’s title and artwork already give an impression of the topics, which are about today’s challenges and a society that can’t stop building walls between each other. While the predecessor had a conceptual story with a message of redemption, they changed to a tougher narrative with lyrics inspired by the current state of the world, and songs that can be seen more as a collection of cautionary tales, but also offer hopeful lines.

Music-wise they start straight away without any intro, and the multi-layered sound is unmistakably THRESHOLD from the beginning, but a good pinch darker and heavier than on "LotS". The band works like a well-oiled machine, everything fits perfectly together, from the playful yet pushing rhythmic over the splendid guitar work to the magnificent keyboard performance. One can hear the experience in their flawless compositions and high-quality production, but there is still this infectious joy in their playing which makes the real difference for me.

The man behind the mic is again Glynn Morgan, who became one of my favorite singers over the past years because of his versatile, expressive style. With his wide vocal range, he takes us through the wonderful melodies that can easily get stuck in your head, switching effortlessly from powerful rocking to a thoughtful or touching tone and back.

While I actually enjoy the album in its entirety, the songs also work well on their own, with some standing out a bit more for me: The mighty opener “Haunted”, the high-energetic “Complex” as well as the touching “Silenced” and the proggy rocker “King of Nothing”. Throughout the whole record, there is a great balance between heavier and calmer parts, which flow into each other naturally and keep the listener’s attention. For the prog-loving ear, they offer loads of mesmerizing instrumental and virtuoso solo parts, always smoothly woven into the overall sound.

To sum it up: In troubled times it’s good to have things one can rely on, and THRESHOLD’s music is clearly something that won’t let us down. For me, diving into their new opus felt a bit like coming home, and discovering someone left a beautiful bouquet of flowers - There was a certain familiarity from the beginning, but nevertheless they manage to fill me with an excitement as only music can do. The whole album comes along with an incredible energy, but also many wonderful details that the attentive listener might discover. Highly recommended to check it out and see if “Dividing Lines” reveals its magic for you as well :-)

Written by Katha