Progressive rock is starting to get really interesting to me
again.
Oh, sure, despite what hundreds of Yes fans might believe, I
never fell out of love with the genre over the years. I just became
bored with the direction it seemed to be heading – namely, a fusion
of prog-rock’s technical precision and the crunching sound of
metal. But a few discs I’ve heard of late have really started to
restore my faith in the genre, even if it’s still pretty much
entrenched in the metal style.
The latest such disc is
Hypothetical from London-based Threshold. Combining a knack
for solid songwriting with exquisite musical precision and
well-placed vocal harmonies, vocalist Andrew “Mac” McDermott and
crew create a disc that, despite an energy sag in the middle, acts
as an alarm clock for all of us, waking us up to the fact that
prog-rock is alive and well.
Hypothetical kicks off as strongly as one could ever hope
for with two killer tracks. “Light And Space” is just complicated
enough to lure the traditional prog-rock fan while maintaining a
hook level that could easily get this track airplay. The two-guitar
attack of Nick Midson and Karl Groom help to propel this track into
the stratosphere.
Although one could easily draw a parallel to genremates Dream
Theater on many occasions, who would have expected comparisons to
the Scorpions on “Turn On Tune In”? Indeed, the vocal lines are so
powerful that they make me think this is what the German metal band
could have sounded like if they went progressive. The solid rhythm
section of keyboardist Richard West, bassist Jon Jeary and drummer
Johanne James are key to this track working as well as it does.
Although
Hypothetical is filled with longer songs whose time seems to
fly by, the album unexpectedly suffers an energy lag around the
one-third mark. “The Ravages Of Time” is a pretty enough track, but
it lacks the delicate balance of vocals and instrumental work that
makes the other tracks soar. (No, I’m not complaining about the
track’s length. “Narcissus,” which closes the album, is just under
a minute longer, and is more cohesive.) Likewise, “Oceanbound” and
“Long Way Home” don’t live up to the same expectations.
Interestingly enough, the one nod towards commercial airplay,
“Keep My Head,” isn’t a bad effort, though it, too, screams for the
rich instrumentation that quickly becomes a hallmark of Threshold’s
sound. “Sheltering Sky” and “Narcissus” both fill that void, and do
it well.
It’s interesting that Threshold is able to hook the listeners in
with the first two tracks, but often can’t live up to that level of
magic on
Hypothetical. Still, this is hardly a bad album, and ranks
up there with some of the best prog-rock I’ve ever heard. This is
definitely a worthwhile album to check out – and that’s factually
speaking.
