Thresholds

With Mike Browning’s involvement in the writing process diminishing, Nocturnus embraced a more progressive and diverse approach on Thresholds. This album eschewed many of the more thrash-oriented riffs heard on the Key in favour of technicality. This in and of itself, was not a bad thing as it allowed Nocturnus to experiment and develop as a band, and in any case not all of the old-school influenced riffs were gone. However, there does seem to be a greater emphasis placed on mid-tempo riffs such as the primary riff found on ‘Climate Controllers’ for example. This robs the music of a sense of urgency at times, but I believe the album more than makes up for it in other aspects. The diversity of ideas on display here works to its advantage, such as the tribal drumming on ‘Tribal Vodoun’, the mysterious atmosphere and terrific shredding on ‘Nocturne in Bm’ and of course the amazing melodic chorus on ‘Arctic Crypt’. Perhaps some of these songs could have be a little shorter, but for the most part the music remains interesting throughout and doesn’t lose momentum.

As with most technical death metal, the instrumentation is proficient and engaging with plenty of fun guitar runs and solos. When the bass guitar is audible, such as during the aforementioned chorus on ‘Arctic Crypt’, it is very impressive and enhances the music considerably. As always, Louis Panzer provides some great keyboard parts which complement and juxtapose the more metallic instrumentation of Mike Davis and Sean McNenney. Dan Izzo’s vocals are perfectly competent, however deviate little from the signature Browning sound. Perhaps they should have gone with someone who had a little more range or was at least noticeably different from Browning. As others have noted in Nocturnus reviews, Browning’s drumming tends to be the weak link in the band. I can’t help but feel a more technical approach is warranted, given the musical style the band opted for on this release. Nevertheless, he is a capable and steady percussionist and has only improved with time (as seen on Nocturnus AD’s recent album ‘Paradox’).

Despite some of its shortcomings, I would say Thresholds hits the mark better than the Key, especially in terms of achieving a stronger sci-fi atmosphere. However, the Key has the upper hand in the sense that it is the more headbang-able and straight forward album between the two. Worth mentioning is also the superb sci-fi cover art provided by fantasy/sci-fi legend Pete Knifton. If you enjoy technical and progressive death metal alike, I would highly recommend this album. Thresholds manages to maintain its identity without getting lost in the assortment of ideas being presented and can be a very rewarding listen if you have the time and patience.