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Rating: Really very enjoyable this "Critical Mass", the sixth studio album by the British band Threshold. Once again, Threshold leave nothing to chance! The mere atmospheres, always very dark and cold, make you want to listen to the album, but also from a technical point of view the album is very well conceived. Definitely one of the group's most successful work alongside various "Hypothetical", "Subsurface", "Psychedelicatessen" (which I am reevaluating a lot)... ...and all the others!
The start of the day is promising with the direct "Phenomenon" where distorted guitars alternate with fine electronic experiments; the guitar solo is good too. Track 2 "Choices" is one of the highlights of the album, and those exquisite Dream Theater-like guitar-keyboard touches alone are worth the purchase of the disc. "Falling Away" is perhaps one of the songs in their repertoire with the best-cared-for atmospheres, thanks to the clear sound of Richard West's keyboards, but the guitar-keyboard unison that comes in after the middle is also beautiful. Even "Fragmentation" is a song that synthesizes the band's typical power and melody; those guitars are really strong, the riffs really heavy between one verse and another, but the keyboards are also capable of delivering touching melodies! And what about "Echoes Of Life", another powerful highlight of the album; melancholic piano touches wander here and there throughout the track, really flawless atmospheres, and a beautiful instrumental part with guitar and keyboard solos... all to create a really poetic and moving track! Unfortunately, "Round Round" seems a bit too filler compared to the other songs; better instead the melancholic ballad "Avalon", based on a very tender piano! And how many bows should we make in front of the superb "Critical Mass"? Too many! The longest song Threshold has ever produced, with its 13 minutes and 35 seconds, but also one of the most unpredictable! Numerous minutes deliver what Threshold usually inserts in their music, which are powerful guitars, impeccable backgrounds as usual, and keyboard solos, then towards the end, the rhythm suddenly drops, offering a more psychedelic and hypnotic part of their production... for a few minutes, we are caressed by a very gentle acoustic guitar accompanied by a light and timid synthesizer... a really intelligent and well-placed finale to close an album as usual splendid!
Highly recommended for those who love strong emotions! Anything else to add? What? Just listen!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Phenomenon (05:28)
Safe from all the hurting safe from all the lies
Locked myself away now blindfold on my eyes
Lost in your predictions fiction from the stars
Bound to be your destiny you know who you are
Someone stopped the starlight loosened up the ties
Now the door is open open like my eyes
So if the sky's about to fall i'll still be up there flying
It's just the fear of what's in store that ever stops you trying
And if the storm throws you around it only makes you stronger
But when the stars come crashing down it's a phenomenon
Scared of all your visions scared of all you hear
Thought you'd bring security but all you brought was fear
Someone stopped the starlight brought me back to life
Set me free from your deceit threw away the lies
So if the sky's about to fall i'll still be up there flying
It's just the fear of what's in store that ever stops you trying
And if the storm throws you around it only makes you stronger
But when the stars come crashing down it's a phenomenon
I don't want many things just a chance to spread my wings
Don't know what the future brings but I want to be there
Someone stopped the starlight loosened up the ties
Now the door is open open like my eyes
So if the sky's about to fall i'll still be up there flying
It's just the fear of what's in store that ever stops you trying
And if the storm throws you around it only makes you stronger
But when the stars come crashing down it's a phenomenon
03 Falling Away (06:53)
There's a fire by the wayside
And it burns so bright
As the smoke rolls over us
We think that we're bathing in light
As we tend to our gardens
The world is growing wild
But we live in our tiny heads
And can't see past our own tiny minds
As we turn away from heaven's bright sun
To earth's dark star
We're powerless we're paranoid
We'll never know what we destroyed
We're arrogant so ignorant
We're falling falling away
So we stop by the wayside
And we think we're smart
We vote for the pretty ones
And curse when the world falls apart
And we swear we'll do better
But the sky's about to fall
So the smoke rolls over us
And we are doing nothing at all
We turned away from heaven's bright sun
So here we are
We're powerless we're paranoid
We'll never know what we destroyed
We're arrogant so ignorant
We're falling falling away
We're breaking we're stalling
We're drifting we're falling
We're headstrong for so long
We're always falling away
04 Fragmentation (06:34)
We are fragmented
Clinging on to a concept known as how
Drifting through dimensions
In a place which we call now
Simply unaware
Of what goes on above beyond and before
Behind us fly the ragged fragments
Of what should have been much more
Been much more
So unsure
Opening doors
Separate entities in ebb and flow
Diverse quantities behind us show
Fragmentation
Fragmentation
We thought that we would live forever
Now we're mortals like the rest
We were lion hearted fighters
Who were never put to the test
Can't foresee the end but it's round the bend
And it's putting us to flight
I would go with you if you asked me to
And you're frightened that I might
I just might
Souls in flight
Just not right
Separate entities in ebb and flow
Diverse quantities behind us show
Fragmentation
Half of a fantasy but I never got
Half of the fanta see? but I never got
Half of the fans to see but I never got
Half of the van to sing but I never got
No I never ever never got
Half of the fantasy but I never got
Half of the band to see but I never got
Half of the fans to sing but I never got
Half of the royalties no I never got
It's time to reconvene the wolf pack
And gather these disparate parts
And to exorcise the maniac
And separate these scars
Let my blood flow fast
And neutralise the yearning in my heart
Let my spirit fill with energy
Like its waiting for the start
For the start
A broken heart
Torn apart
Separate entities in ebb and flow
Diverse quantities behind us show
Fragmentation
Fragmentation
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By Matt7
Threshold live by their own light offering, in a genre that is frankly stale, a personal interpretation of what prog-metal should be, respecting all the ingredients of the recipe and adding a pinch of their own ideas and undeniable originality.
To prog fans and the like: this album will not fail to engage and excite you.
