Thresholds

In the '90s, Nocturnus was one of those bands whose releases were next to impossible to find. It seems that the band might not have clicked with too many listeners at the time, between the heavy use of keyboards and the lyrical mixture of occultism and sci-fi imagery that were present on the debut album The Key. I think the way Thresholds turned out might have been related to this.

On Thresholds, the sci-fi imagery and keyboards are still there, but the occult imagery is gone, save for the band's logo. Even the keyboards seem toned down a bit. They are still there, sometimes doing some pretty interesting things, but sound a bit lower in the mix. There are some occasional spots when the keyboards are more in the forefront, but overall they are not as in-your-face as they were on The Key. As for the lack of the occultism in the lyrics, I would think that is solely due to the fact that this was the start of certain members of the band hijacking, for lack of a better word, the band from its founder Mike Browning. Mike had handled the vocals as well as the drums on all the previous Nocturnus material, but had been talked into concentrating on his drumming, with Dan Izzo filling in on vocals. I won't deal with the rest of this debacle, as it is a bit off-topic, but concentrate on the effect it had on this record.

While Dan's vocals certainly get the job done well and I quite like them, I do miss Mike's raspy vocals from the previous album. Although, I will admit, Dan's vocals may be a better fit for this album than Mike's while Mike's fit better for The Key.

Aside from the vocals, there are some other differences in the band's sound this time around, which I am certain are a result of the diminishing input Mike had at this point. The riffs have a choppier feel a lot of the time on this record, a really fast "chugga-chugga" kind of vibe, rather than the more flowing double-picked riffing from The Key. Also, the production has different feel, sounding a bit muted, perhaps to keep the guitars from sounding less intense and in-your-face, similar to the lower levels on most of the keyboard tracks.

With all this said, Thresholds may, if you are already familiar with The Key and a fan of it, not hit you as hard the first listen. However, once given a proper listen and what you expect to hear versus what you actually get isn't really an issue anymore, I would say this one grows on you quickly, standing pretty evenly with the first record.

Even on the first listen, there is much on this record to show the band's brilliance. There's the instrumental, "Nocturne in Bm", where the keyboards are much higher in the mix, like The Key, even featuring a keyboard solo, and showcases the band's ability to have different layers to an album. It is heavy and even has some great lead guitar work, but is also a bit mellow in comparison to the other songs, which fits into the concept of a nocturne.

My absolute favorite track is "Arctic Crypt". It's a song with a lot of energy and an brilliantly intense intro that builds and builds until a break in the song and the main riffs kick in. This all carries you into a chorus that is memorable, plus some well-placed acoustic guitar. This song, to me, is just as good as anything else the band has ever done, being of its best tracks, period.

Some other highlights are: "Aquatica", "Climate Controller", "Atler Reality" and "Subterranean Infiltrator". To be honest, there isn't a single song on this record I would say is bad or even mediocre, but it just seems it may take more time to click with listeners than The Key. I know it did with me. Each time I listened to it back in the '90s, it just became better. In some ways, this record is more sophisticated and mature, which sometimes is a bad thing and likely has a lot to do with it taking a bit more time to grow on listeners, but I think it worked pretty well in this case.

So, if you dug the first Nocturnus record, give this one a fair listen and I think you'll hear that it is brilliant record as well, just not in the same way as The Key.