Threshold - Dead Reckoning
Nuclear Blast
Progressive Metal
9 songs (54:40)
Release year: 2007
Threshold, Nuclear Blast
Reviewed by Cody
Album of the month

A couple of times a year, those ardent musical enthusiasts (metalheads and beyond) come across a few albums (if not just one) that is the equivalent of consuming a bit of your favorite dessert by the best dessert chef on the planet. After consuming the dessert you are then presented with 7 or 8 more pieces of this amazing dessert. Being presented with all this unconsummated goodness in a single lump sum is almost too much to handle; the same can be said for those musical journeys that just blindside you and make you feel guilty for enjoying it so much. The latest example that has achieved its goal on my aural palette is none other than progressive Englishmen Threshold with their latest offering Dead Reckoning.

So why is Dead Reckoning so delicious (yes, I will be using the dessert relation throughout this review....suck it up)? Is this piece wall to wall technicality via Dream Theater or Pagan's Mind? Absolutely not, but it breezes by most of their competition with pure catchiness and just the right amount of technical righteousness that you can thoroughly enjoy their chops while singing along to their mighty choruses. Has Threshold changed their sound beyond what has been done in the past? Well, im sorry to tell any of the band's naysayers that this is more of the same of what you'd normally hear (which is hard to say, because few songs sound the same from this band). Those who support Threshold's discography however, will be pleasantly surprised that the band has released another stellar album, in addition to a few zingers thrown into the mix!

One of those zingers I speak of appears in the opener of the record, entitled Slipstream which contains some of the heaviest riffing I have ever heard from this band. As always though, Andrew McDermott has delivered the goods in the vocal department, however, accompanying his vocals and the wonderful guitar tone is the death metal growls of well known Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale, Star One etc...) which is very well placed and provides a fantastic surprise for this song, and a constant guessing game for what could possible be included in the rest of the album.

What is actually included in Dead Reckoning, is a smorgasbord of electronica, ballads and all the other prog metal tidbits that Threshold is so fond of throwing about on their albums. Attempting to pull out individual songs to represent the top echelon of what this has to offer is a difficult task, because literally, from top to bottom, this record is a neverending heap of quality music that can only be digested fully with multiple servings.

I have been hearing while doing a bit of research on this album that Threshold is gaining more coverage in their native land, reaching at least 30 op the charts. Those who are fond of this band can only hope that the future is bright for these very talented musicians. Threshold's Dead Reckoning is an absolutely stunning masterpiece of progressive metal...errr...I mean....a fantastic piece of cheesecake that can be enjoyed by those who need to rid their pysche's of preservative enriched crap in favor of some organic quality goodness.

Killing Songs :
Slipstream, Disappear
Cody quoted 95 / 100
Other albums by Threshold that we have reviewed:
Threshold - March of Progress reviewed by Thomas and quoted 71 / 100
Threshold - Subsurface reviewed by Ben and quoted 86 / 100
Threshold - Critical Mass reviewed by Ben and quoted 94 / 100
Threshold - Hypothetical reviewed by Chris and quoted 74 / 100
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