Dividing Lines

Threshold are one of my favourite bands in the world, and it pains me they aren’t better known, as they are seriously one of the best in the business. The second album with former vocalist Glynn Morgan back in the fold after Damian Wilson nicked off for the third time, I had concerns that ‘Dividing Lines’, their twelfth full-length overall, wouldn’t measure up given 2017’s ‘Legends Of The Shires’ ended a run of seven classic albums rivaled only by Iron Maiden in the 80s. That album found Karl Groom and co retreading old ground for the first time, and I hoped the five-year gap would produce something fresh and new. I’m glad to admit I was right.

The basic blueprint for Threshold’s sound hasn’t changed much since 2012’s ‘March Of Progress’. This is still riff-heavy, hyper melodic progressive metal with big choir vocals and a popish choral style, but Glynn sounds far more at home here than he did on the overblown ‘Shires’. As soon as that refrain kicks in on opener ‘Haunted’ Thresh fans will be grinning from ear to ear, as it’s easily one of the best choruses they’ve ever written. It’s a standard hard-hitting Threshold opener and sets the stage for an album that sounds like modern Thresh doing a Mac-era album. We all miss him like crazy, but Glynn does a great job honoring his legacy while doing his own thing better than he ever has. I’m not one of those guys who thinks ‘Psychedelicatessen’ is their finest hour; I was always more partial to the eccentric neo-prog headfuck of ‘Extinct Instinct’, so I make no bones about the fact that ‘Dividing Lines’ is Glynn’s best album with Threshold. His deep, warm tones take me right back to the Mac days, and in fact, the sedate nature of this album reminds me a lot of ‘Critical Mass’. Maybe there’s a bit of ‘For The Journey’ in tunes like ‘Hall Of Echoes’, and the epics recall those from the sublime ‘Subsurface’, especially ‘The Domino Effect’. Apocalyptic closer ‘Defence Condition’ is the most typical Threshold song ever, but it bangs like a screen door in a summer storm, ending on the darkest note possible. Seriously, the way this song ends is almost scary in how deep it drags you down. They’ve never done anything quite like it.

It can’t be overstated how much Glynn’s songwriting contributions make this album what it is, though. ‘Let It Burn’, ‘Run’, and ‘King Of Nothing’ offer totally fresh sounds for this band, with some of the heaviest instrumentation and modern anthemic vocal lines that remind me in the best possible way of Howard Jones during his run with Killswitch Engage. Don’t read too much into that, though; there’s no metalcore to be found here, it’s chugging prog all the way, there’s just something about those tunes that bring a much-needed contemporary approach. I’ve heard people say that this is too ballad-esque, but the fact is, there is no true ballad here. Every song has slow, placid moments that show a deep love for the lush guitar breaks of Marillion and even some of the wistful play of early Genesis. But they get back to the riffing in no time, and it keeps the songs interesting and unpredictable.

My favourite tune on here is ‘Complex’, purely because it sounds so much like one of the heavier bops from ‘Subsurface’, but a lot of this mines ideas Threshold utilized during the Mac era, and it’s lovely to hear Glynn take charge of that movement the way he does. This is about a thousand times smarter and more entertaining than ‘Legends Of The Shires’, and even if you don’t like prog as a rule, I urge you to give this a spin. Threshold are top songwriters, extraordinary players, and even if this does have a familiarity to it, Richard West’s industrial synth patches give it an atmosphere that differentiates it from what has come before. I love everything this band do. They are masters of the hook, incredible musicians, and consummate songwriters. I knew this was going to be my album of the year before I bought it, and I’m overjoyed to say it exceeded my expectations. Superlative work.

No word of a lie, I was actively worried about this album. This year has seen a considerable number of records drop from favourites both new and old which, to varying degrees have disappointed. Couple this with the fact that I think Legends of the Shires ultimately ranks among Threshold's weakest offerings, I was pretty much set up for tears. I cast somewhat of a blind eye to the albums pre-release promo cycle - so as not to tarnish the album whole, and even held off taking the release day plunge. Still, those amber and sepia tones of Dividing Lines' stark album cover haunted me. and it wasn't long until I had no choice but to abandon my instincts and like the proverbial YouTuber "dive in".

"Ya fucker" were more or less the sentiments after hitting the play button. The next hour or so was spent flitting between that stank face, nod of approval type head-banging, pensive, analytic thoughts, and ultimately a rip-roaring old time listening to music. Not that it ever went away, but this is what I want from Threshold. This is absolute lightyears closer to what I'd envisioned the day I heard Glynn Morgan had been sucked back in. We all know the press and its love for those "they're back" success stories, and yeah, it's hardly a fresh take, and rarely the truth of a situation; I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the way I felt at first. Dividing Lines more or less reinforces my stance that Shires was an album written with Damian Wilson in mind, and once that relationship ended Glynn was essentially "brought in" to finish the job. Whilst this album is through and through a great Threshold record, it should be seen as the coming out party for Glynn Morgan, he was the mutt's nuts on Psychedelicatessen which has since been kind of overshadowed, but here he's the present, and I sincerely hope the future, the voice of Threshold.

Lost faith in the human race
Lost hope in the ever after
You got burned everywhere you turned

It ain't Shakespeare, but it's more or less the last few years of my life summed up. Threshold have always been one of a small handful of bands I can identify with lyrically, and it's no different here. Whether sharp social commentary, political, or introspective, Threshold always manage to strike as poignant, sincere, and frankly intelligent. I was particularly jazzed to hear reference to Subsurface's "Mission Profile" in "Complex", such a prog move, I love it. Vocal lines as can be expected by now are smooth and catchy, somewhere between their 00s run with a good blend of instant, this is going to be stuck in my head all day specials, and less conventional neo-prog stylings. Before I even took a look at the writing credits, I could identify Glynn had more of a hand in the songwriting here, which is great and "Let It Burn" happily recalls a couple of the ideas evident in "Will To Give" from Psychedelicatessen, nicely done!

Musically I'd say as with the vocal lines, is that this album very much has roots in Threshold's 00s run - which is their equivalent of Maiden's 80s run - although that's not to say Dividing Lines isn't adorned with aspects of the glistening modernism seen in the likes of March Of Progress, or that it's without fresh ideas. Basically, if you've made it this far and aren't familiar with Threshold's music their sound has been built on the marriage of formative progressive metal (think Fates Warning around Perfect Symmetry) with neo prog (less Rush, more Marillion) and over the years opened the aforementioned marriage up to modern metal and a slight flirtation with contemporary pop/rock. "Haunted" and "Complex" are both thumping anthems destined for the live environment, with mammoth vocal lines and fine examples of Karl Groom's post-thrash riff collection. Partial and full-blown epics litter the album although the finale "Defence Condition" is particularly noteworthy in highlighting why Threshold are such a fantastic band, and one who are especially good at conjuring this type of longform banger. As mentioned before, it's great to see Glynn more involved in the songwriting, with both "Let It Burn" and "Run" standing as further highpoints.

I'm really happy with how this one turned out, if you dig Threshold then this is a no-brainer. If you've stumbled on this review because you're looking to give the band a chance, then I would urge you to do so. Seriously, outside of being one of the premier progressive metal bands, Threshold write really good music, which to me is transcendent of labelling and genre. This is their best since March Of Progress, serious stuff. Buy it, stream it, spin it, do what you do, just don't sleep on it.

British prog metal masters Threshold are back with their 12th studio album Dividing Lines, released on November 18th via Nuclear Blast. This is their second LP after singer Glynn Morgan – who had already appeared on Threshold’s sophomore album Psychedelicatessen in 1994 – made a return to the band’s ranks, replacing Damian Wilson. The rest of the line-up is unchanged compared to the band’s previous record Legends of the Shire. Karl Groom and Richard West lead the charge armed with guitar and keyboards, respectively. As usual, the pair penned much of the material included on the new record, although there are also notable contributions by Morgan, who injected fresh blood into the band’s songwriting department (more on this later). The line-up is completed by Johanne James (drums) and Steve Anderson (bass), forming a time-tested rhythm section for nearly 20 years now.


The band presented Dividing Lines as the “darker, moodier brother” of Legends of the Shire and the description is quite accurate: while Legends was a sprawling, double-disc progressive rock tour-de-force, Dividing Lines marks a return to a heavier and more compact sound that has characterized much of the band’s output in the new millenium. Prog rock aficionados need not worry, though: there is plenty of sophisticated progressive goodness running through the album’s 64 minutes, including distinct references to the 1980s neo-prog sound of bands like Marillion and Arena. This is probably the aspect of Dividing Lines that I found most satisfying: the album is a masterwork of balance as heavy prog metal riffage and aggression are combined with lighter prog rock arrangements and soft, emotional melodies, masterfully interpreted by Morgan’s expressive and resonant voice. The singer also contributed to the songwriting with a handful of tracks that hint towards modern metal influences (the faint growls emerging underneath the cleans in the chorus of “Let It Burn”, the massive vocal hooks in “King of Nothing” and “Run”). These influences also emerge more generally in West’s futuristic keyboard sound, in the crisp, vocal-driven production, and in the streamlined song structures that never stray far away from a simple verse-chorus form.

This was a surprise for me, as I tend to associate Threshold with a more traditionally progressive form of metal, in a similar camp as Ayreon / Star One, Queensrÿche or Fates Warning. To their credit, Threshold pull off this modernist spin majestically – and this comes from someone who is not a big fan of the modern metal fad in the first place. Threshold’s secret weapon lies in the exceptional songwriting and arrangements. Simply put, Dividing Lines contains a handful of songs that can be considered career highlights for the band. “Hall of Echoes”, “Let It Burn”, “Run” and the long-form epic “Defence Condition” offer a mighty testament to Threshold’s extraordinary ability to tread a fine line between complexity, heaviness, technical playing, and melodic accessibility. The hooks are absolutely exhilarating, but the songs also possess strong replay value thanks to the intelligent arrangements and interesting dynamics. I am particularly fond of the depth and subtlety in the arrangements, with keyboards and guitars playing off one another to create an ever-changing, multi-layered sonic background that ensures the music never feels monotonous or repetitive. The playing is also sublime, with strong solos by both Groom and West, plenty of powerful grooves by the rhythmic duo Anderson-James, and a superb performance by Glynn Morgan, who sounds like a man at the highest point in his career.

My only gripe with Dividing Lines is that the songwriting quality drops somewhat halfway through the album. The first four songs are excellent, but things start to fall through with the first long-form epic track included on the LP, “The Domino Effect”: the melodies here feel slightly phoned-in and predictable, which makes the song seem longer than it actually is. The subsequent tracks “Complex” and “King of Nothing” also fail to leave a strong impression. Things start to look up again with “Lost Along the Way”, although its very overt soft neo-prog influences are somewhat at odds with the more metallic nature of the rest of the album. Fortunately, Dividing Lines closes mightily strong with two of its best tracks, “Run” and “Defence Condition”, whose magnificence makes me forget the somewhat pedestrian 25 minutes that preceded them.

Despite the slight mid-flight turbulence, Dividing Lines stands out as one of the best albums by the British progsters, as well as one of the most accomplished melodic prog metal releases of the year. The album may not break any new ground, but when the quality of the songwriting is as high as on some of the tracks included here, it would be foolish to complain. Album after album, Threshold continue to perfect their special blend of melodic power metal and progressive rock, and on Dividing Lines they have found a way of expression that is at times utterly breath-taking. The album is the sound of a band riding a creative peak at the height of their compositional powers: if you are a prog metal fan, you’d be a fool not to ride along.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]