HYPOTHETICAL

It goes without saying that Threshold are England's premier Prog-Metal band. Hypothetical is the bands 5th studio release and it sees them in impressive form. This is a band that create their own distinctive sound by not shredding and instead using very hard edged riffs with spacey keyboards to make what is very powerful music. There also notable for not using particularly complex song structures like other Prog-Metal bands do, but instead concentrate on creating very melodic tunes.

Though I have said the arrangements aren't exactly complex, that's not to say that they are devoid of talent. Karl Groom and Nick Midson share guitar duties and both offer up excellent solos' strong melodies and some heavy riffing as well, most notably on the song Narcissus, and Johanne James is very impressive in making a small drum kit sound like a large one. Richard Wests keyboards add some nice spacey feeling to some tracks and a few very nice solos and keyboard only passages do pop up, however he does get a bit lost in the mix sometimes. Jon Jeary isn't the best bassist I've ever heard but he does hold a very nice groove throughout the album, so though he's nothing special he does a job well done here.

For those who have heard Threshold will know that they are extremely strong lyrically and this holds up on Hypothetical. Threshold has successfully bypasst the cheesy lyrics that bands like Rhapsody dwell on and went straight for the thoughtful, emotional style of writing. The only song I can say that the lyrics are sub-par on is Ravages Of Time. This 10 minute semi-epic has fantastic music but the lyrics are cumbersome, though it doesn't take much imagination to understand what it is that there trying to say here. The strong lyrics are delivered expertly by singer Andrew McDermott (better known as Mac) who has a very powerful voice that can move and shift from powering out the chorus to becoming more heartfelt and sincere.

In short this is a very good album that showcases Thresholds own brand of Neo-ish Prog-Metal very well. Of the songs themselves, particular mention must be made of the album closer, Narcissus. This track has struck a chord with me as I find the lyrics sum up the modern world very well and they are delivered with some of the most powerful, even angry, music the genre has to offer. I give Hypothetical 4 stars instead of 5 as Ravages Of Time is a slightly inarticulate track and Sheltering Sky just seems to get lost amongst the great tracks that are on this album.