Thresholds

The first album from these "techno-deathsters from Florida" was an highly praised release from then prolific english extreme label Earache records. In the end, I don't put "The key" among contemporary masterpieces like "Spiritual healing", "Cause of death", "Blessed are the sick", "Left hand path", or "Piece of time". It's surely a cool piece of thrash/death metal with cool keyboard intros, good riffs and vocals, but guitars provide too much pseudotechnical wankery in my opinion. Also, bass guitar is non-existent and drums are definitely not outstanding. One like Pete Sandoval could have been the right man for the job, though I have to admit that Mike Browning's vocals are among the best of the genre: genuinely EVIL. Even considering these defects, "The key" easily beats "Thresholds" to death. The fact is: first album by Nocturnus was composed through several years of songwriting sessions and various line-up changes, with men like Richard Bateman (Nasty Savage), Gino Marino (Incubus) and Vince Crowley (Acheron) writing most of the music. "Thresholds" just sounds like a feast of riffing without any actual RIFF at all. Lesson #1: recording difficult-to-play parts, and pasting them together doesn't make a good song. Production is muddier and even less powerful than on "The key" (that was underproduced as well), bass is still indecipherable and band's skill actually doesn't rise to the occasion. Where "The key" had some good riffing or Slayer worship ("Lake of fire"), "Thresholds" shows guitar and keyboards wankery only. Plus, they fired Mike Browning from the vocalist role, when Mike's vox where among the good aspects on Nocturnus debut. Strangely enough, this album received sweet reviews at the time but (not strangely at all) record sales were mediocre to say the least. In conclusion, I don't understand why some people still praise "Thresholds": it's simply a collection of aborted musical ideas & cheesy sci-fi lyrics. Also, booklet is completely illegible, too, due to a bad choice of background photos. Avoid this album...and if you want to discover Nocturnus, choose "The Key".