Threshold - The Domino Effect (2022)

Formed in leafy Surrey in the late ‘80s, Threshold truly blossomed in the following decade, and swiftly established themselves as the UK’s chief progressive metal standard bearers. From 1993’s Wounded Land debut onwards, the enduring creative core of guitarist Karl Groom and keyboard maestro Richard West constructed a unique new strain of heavy, progressive music, combining incisive melodies, thought-provoking lyrics and intricate but thunderous arrangements. Threshold have marched inexorably forward across three decades of creative fervour, arguably hitting a new peak of potency on the conceptual and musical splurge of 2017’s Legends Of The Shires. With Glynn Morgan back in the fold, the Brits’ enduring line-up of Groom, West, drummer Johanne James and bassist Steve Anderson somehow pushed themselves to new heights, receiving widespread acclaim and finding themselves in more demand than ever before. Despite the unavoidable setback of a global pandemic, Threshold arrive in 2022 in the best of health. Following up a newly-minted classic was always going to present Threshold with a challenge, but the band’s twelfth studio album swiftly confirms that the challenge has been met. Darker, heavier and even more adventurous than its predecessor, Dividing Lines reveals a band with a lot on their collective mind, while also boasting some of the most wildly inventive and melodically potent material they have ever recorded.

Genesis Domino: In The Glow Of The Night / The Last Domino (The Way We Walk 1992)