Thresholds

Two years after the otherworldly The Key, Thresholds merged. At what cost? Well, this album marked the band's downfall sometime later, and an unexpected change in the lineup, as well as the sound being different than The Key; didn't really capture fans' attention but perhaps not a letdown either. And off the bat, I'm liking the album cover more because it shows quite a lot than an evil character with a pentagram on the first album's cover. The downfall is explained sometime after this album's release, in a dispute between Mike and the other band members, not to mention that in this record he doesn't sing, as the band recruited Dan Izzo from Tortured Soul; another unknown death metal band, and he only performs here and in the astounding self-titled EP a year after.

I know, the title might sound ludicrous and unwarranted, but it's in the fucking music! The keyboards alone present this Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son albums. The guitars more or less resemble the same likes, only it's more technical and clearly progressive, but I'm not trying to compare a death metal band to a pioneering heavy metal band. Both entirely different and on different leagues.

The album begins with Climate Controller's one-minute of rituals, summoning creatures of darkness and initiating the climate controller. The lyrics even contain some bizarre words and a name but it surely worked, heh. As the song initially starts, it's more story-telling. It's quite slow-paced and I love the short periods of shredded guitars; ending a part of the song and beginning a new one. The song itself is pretty catchy and atmospheric, and for being the longest track (despite the one-minute speech) it doesn't bore. It also shows quite the technical skills within the band which follows throughout the album, and for being the first song behind the vocals for Dan Izzo he's done a pretty neat job. The ending of the track is very thrash-like - I guess that's another plus for fans of that genre. Nocturne in Bm is a genius instrumental track, showing off beautiful keyboards, along the fulfilling guitar riffs and melodies. Arctic Crypt, as the title suggests science and ritual themes. MAN! That song fucking rocks! The chorus is just perfect, having the keyboards blend in so well and the bass is widely technical, there's also some acoustic guitars after the second chorus. Subterranean Infiltrator, another epic track that by the sound of it resembles the way the album cover describes itself. The keyboards and guitars are spot-on. I loved the perfected occultism and evilness in Alter Reality's chorus (this song also has a music video, by the way). Deception at its very core. And Gridzone was just as good.

Now, for the weak spots I caught in this album are Tribal Vodoun and Aquatica. While Tribal Vodoun is another atmospheric track with compelling keyboards, it didn't capture the same dark essence as other tracks, and for being the second-longest track on the album it was overshadowed by its long composition. Aquatica is probably the most standard track on the album and had a good beginning, but it progressed into repetitiveness and lost its momentum. So I'd say these two are the weakest tracks on the album.

Honestly, while the sound is more matured and refined, as well as more technical, it was a risky move that paid off! I can't imagine this album with Mike's vocals (not in a bad way), so Dan did a great job on his end and the others guys delivered it for a second time, despite all altercations that later occurred. Arguably, it's better than the debut, or to simply put the best Nocturnus release. Unfortunately, as the debut is a one-time album, so is Thresholds. What comes after this album is, as I said above, the band's downfall - or even demise; to be reignited under different names and sound.

In comparison, the first two albums are very different and enjoyable on their own. But from my experience, Thresholds is more memorable for the reasons I mentioned in the paragraph above. I'm going back to this album more than The Key because of the sheer progressiveness the band innovated and how they became more creative. Subjectively, since I'm more into the science stuff than the rituals and occultism, Thresholds fulfilled that request on that regard. Best tracks are Climate Controller, Arctic Crypt, Subterranean Infiltrator, and Alter Reality.