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Threshold
Subsurface
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Let me jog your collective memory a bit. Once upon a time, a rock band could be aggressive and a little loud, and also be melodic and perhaps hit you with a ballad once in a while and they were still a rock band; not a metal band or a power pop band. “Rock band” wasn’t the derogatory term it seems to have now become. Invariably, this certain sector of music where drums, bass, amplified guitars, keyboards and a bracing voice (sometimes singing, sometimes screaming) come together has mutated into all sorts of sub genres. Critics, such as I am, use the terminology all the time while music fans, such as I may be, can’t stand it. Ask either of us and we’ll probably wax poetic about when it was simple. Rock music had it all, and it was all under a single umbrella.
What this has to do with Threshold’s newest release is this: for the first time in a long while, there is a contender for the coveted title of “rock album” without the clutter of extraneous pigeonholing. Yes, they are technically ‘progressive metal’, but the most progressive thing about “Subsurface” is how concise it is. Any soloing present feels like it has a purpose for being, anything that smacks of excess for the sake of excess is cut away. As for the term ‘metal’, there’s no question that the disc packs some power into its nine tracks, but what you automatically think of when ‘metal’ is said and what you get are very different things. In short, “Subsurface” is a lean, disciplined rock album with some thought behind it.
From the opening track “Mission Profile” on, it is clear that the band still has much more in mind than girls and despair. Specifically, while not a concept album, the songs all deal with the ulterior motive and underlying intention that is bent near to broken by word and deed. The lyrics of “Mission Profile” are pointed and clear, an indictment of power that uses money, faith and force for its own ends and justifies it all with spurious levels of concern and motivation. And while this might have come across as a screed against America in lesser hands, the band takes the higher road. After all, being a European band, they have their own takes and stakes in the political framework. This is about the abuse of power, the whole of it by all, and that is something more pervasive than any single government agenda.
Through it all, the band remains powerful and melodic. Sometimes the guitars chug and the drums thunder, and sometimes they don’t. The key to “Subsurface”’s success is that balance and discipline. The longest track on the disc, “The Art Of Reason”, does clock in at a little over ten minutes but seems to remain on-point throughout, and the entire recording remains true to my original statement: Threshold has moved from being a “metal band” or a “prog band” to the more satisfying center where they can pull from any side, including ballads and pop touches. They’ve become the epitome of the 70s rock band ideal without compromising the worldview of the 2000s.
If I need proof of this, check out the last track. Ordinarily, the band would reserve the space for the big, long statement of the recording, but instead we get a tight, strong six- minute statement of intent. “The Destruction Of Words” sounds great at any volume. Lead singer Mac’s stacked vocals in the chorus provide a hook that demands constant replays, and I did. In fact, this one track stayed on ‘repeat’ in the car stereo for three days, each time making clear the intention of “Subsurface”: “So you can take away the answers and they’ll still return / but when you throw away the questions, I’ll only learn again / So take away the evidence, but I’ll still recall until you / Throw away the memory and all that’s left is you”... It was so good to hear a statement like this coming from “just a rock band”. Manipulations, lies, deceptions will all be sorted out in the end because the truth always stands after our verbal flourishes have crumbled away. Reality is bigger than our descriptions and misuse. It’s a hopeful statement presented with force.
It’s Threshold’s best album, written with an engaged mind, performed confidently and recommended for anyone who remembers when rock had it all, not just a haircut and an attitude.
Release Date: August 03, 2004
Tracks: 10 - Time: 59:40
Produced by: Threshold
Format: CD
Website: www.thethresh.net
Track Listing:
Mission Profile / Ground Control / Opium / Stop Dead / The Art of Reason / Pressure / Flags and Footprints / Static / The Destruction pf Words / What About Me? (Bonus Track).
Threshold:
Mac: Vocals
Karl Groom: Guitar
Nick Midson - Guitar
Richard West - Keyboards
Steve Anderson - Bass
Johanne James - Drums
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