THRESHOLD — Critical Mass (review)

THRESHOLD — Critical Mass album cover Album · 2002 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Warthur
Having had something of a breakthrough on their previous album, Hypothetical, Critical Mass establishes another landmark for Threshold: six studio albums deep into their career, they've finally managed to put out a release where the band lineup was the same as on the previous album. It's a moment of stability which wouldn't last - Jon Jeary would depart after this, replaced on bass by Steve Anderson - but the days of the Threshold lineup being in near-constant flux were well in the past here. Mac's vocals, in particular, are really coming into their own.

Musically speaking, the band don't simply turn in Hypothetical Part 2: instead, to my ears it seems that they shift their sonic balance a little, offering more touches of the Marillion-influenced neo-prog which had always been part of their sound (it's the "prog" component in their "prog metal" blend), with more gentle moments sitting beside the explosive melodic metal material here than had previously been the case.

Once again, it's an album I take a while to ease into - really, one thing which seems to be regular with Threshold's studio albums is that they don't necessarily start out strong, with Hypothetical really being the only one prior to this to avoid that. Still, if you give the album a chance and show patience, it shows another side of Threshold which was always somewhat present, but had never been showcased to this extent prior to this.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Negative Music Hardcore Punk
HAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night Progressive Metal
NIGHT VERSES
Buy this album from MMA partners
Witches Burn Alive Stoner Metal
LOVE YOUR WITCH
Buy this album from MMA partners
I Doom Metal
KAPUTTH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Kingdom Of Guilt Metalcore
THE WARRING TRIAD
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

ScapeGoat Official Lyric Video
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 2 days ago
FireFlame - The Last Ride (Official Video)
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - Hezekiah (Official Music Video)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - The Silent Wall
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - Corrosion (Visualizer)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed