Threshold
with support act Dead Soul Tribe
De Bosuil - Weert - 10 September 2004
When
I heard that these two bands were doing a mini-tour together I found
it a rather "strange" combination. The dark, mysterious and sometimes
"depressive" music of Devon Graves's band combined with one of the best
British prog metal bands ever, is truly an extraordinary "mix". Dead
Soul's Tribe last album The January Tree is not really my cup of
tea, as it is filled with tracks full of rather doomy guitar riffs,
complex rhythm structures and almost no musical solos of any kind. Thank
god, they also played a few old songs, because new ones like Spiders
And Flies or The Love Of Hate could not really capture my attention
for very long. Again, like during other live gigs of DST I truly missed
some interesting instrumental passages and of course Devon's lyrics
are also not easy to "chew"... Nevertheless a lot of people enjoyed
themselves and Devon's charisma is still doing the trick, but musically
speaking Threshold were at least a league better. Their latest
release Subsurface has not left my CD player in a long time and I was
really looking forward to hearing some of the new songs live. Mission
Profile (one of my favourite tracks on the new album) opened the set
and this song made clear that these guys are in top shape. Although
Mac always has little problems during the first two songs with his voice;
maybe because he does not
warm up his throat in the proper way. The sound quality and the volume
were excellent and the set list contained lots of new songs. Ground
Control (with an amazing riff), The Art Of Reason (the epic of the new
album), Pressure and the absolute masterpiece of the latest album The
Destruction Of Words were all welcomed by the audience as if they were
already well-known songs. It was funny to see how Mac used papers with
the lyrics of the new album, as he was not quite sure what he had to
sing sometimes... Well, I can quite understand that because the lyrics
on the new album are really "difficult" to memorise... Musically speaking
especially Karl Groom stole the show with his magnificent guitar picking
and heavenly guitar solos. I really think that this guy is underrated
as a guitar player; he plays his guitar so easily it really is pure
enjoyment to watch him setting the sound of Threshold. Of course our
British proggies also played a couple of "old" songs, like e.g. Fragmentation,
Long Way Home or Into The Light. Songs that proved how this band has
grown over the years, not that these are bad songs, but the new material
is so much better…. At least, I think so…. The band came back for an
encore, but still the crowd felt that they had not heard enough. Sadly
Threshold called it a day at 24:00 and then they celebrated their tour
manager Andre, as it was his birthday on the 11th September. Looking
forward to seeing them again on this tour anywhere in Germany. Threshold
has become one of my favourite prog metal bands and Mac still looks
rather silly in his kilt and funny boots, but as long as he sings well,
I really do not care!!! Review for
Rockunited
by Review by Martien Koolen
Pictures by Sy "Wooks" Seddon
When
I heard that these two bands were doing a mini-tour together I found
it a rather "strange" combination. The dark, mysterious and sometimes
"depressive" music of Devon Graves's band combined with one of the best
British prog metal bands ever, is truly an extraordinary "mix". Dead
Soul's Tribe last album The January Tree is not really my cup of
tea, as it is filled with tracks full of rather doomy guitar riffs,
complex rhythm structures and almost no musical solos of any kind. Thank
god, they also played a few old songs, because new ones like Spiders
And Flies or The Love Of Hate could not really capture my attention
for very long. Again, like during other live gigs of DST I truly missed
some interesting instrumental passages and of course Devon's lyrics
are also not easy to "chew"... Nevertheless a lot of people enjoyed
themselves and Devon's charisma is still doing the trick, but musically
speaking Threshold were at least a league better. Their latest
release Subsurface has not left my CD player in a long time and I was
really looking forward to hearing some of the new songs live. Mission
Profile (one of my favourite tracks on the new album) opened the set
and this song made clear that these guys are in top shape. Although
Mac always has little problems during the first two songs with his voice;
maybe because he does 
not
warm up his throat in the proper way. The sound quality and the volume
were excellent and the set list contained lots of new songs. Ground
Control (with an amazing riff), The Art Of Reason (the epic of the new
album), Pressure and the absolute masterpiece of the latest album The
Destruction Of Words were all welcomed by the audience as if they were
already well-known songs. It was funny to see how Mac used papers with
the lyrics of the new album, as he was not quite sure what he had to
sing sometimes... Well, I can quite understand that because the lyrics
on the new album are really "difficult" to memorise... Musically speaking
especially Karl Groom stole the show with his magnificent guitar picking
and heavenly guitar solos. I really think that this guy is underrated
as a guitar player; he plays his guitar so easily it really is pure
enjoyment to watch him setting the sound of Threshold. Of course our
British proggies also played a couple of "old" songs, like e.g. Fragmentation,
Long Way Home or Into The Light. Songs that proved how this band has
grown over the years, not that these are bad songs, but the new material
is so much better…. At least, I think so…. The band came back for an
encore, but still the crowd felt that they had not heard enough. Sadly
Threshold called it a day at 24:00 and then they celebrated their tour
manager Andre, as it was his birthday on the 11th September. Looking
forward to seeing them again on this tour anywhere in Germany. Threshold
has become one of my favourite prog metal bands and Mac still looks
rather silly in his kilt and funny boots, but as long as he sings well,
I really do not care!!! Review for