THRESHOLD - Wounded Land [Definitive Edition] (2012)

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"Wounded Land" is the British prog metal band THRESHOLD's debut album released in 1993. And what a debut! It is not too common to find a debut release that blow you away like this one.
Hot in the heels of their stupendous recent new CD 'March Of Progress', the band is re-releasing "Wounded Land" fully remastered and with 3 killer bonus tracks.

Damian Wilson (later in Ayreon and Star One) was the original singer of the band, and for many, their best ever.
"Wounded Land" is an impressive album in all aspects: from songwriting to the lyrics to Wilson's vocals to the production and the guys' talents on their instruments.
Guitarist Karl Groom particularly shines here and the rhythm section is absolutely superb delivering deep bass lines and dynamic drumming. Keyboardist Richard West is very versatile too, he goes from an Arabic/Middle Eastern sounds (check out the opening song "Consumed To Live"), to killer fast solos, to ambient synths creating a magic atmosphere.

Musically, "Wounded Land" is pretty straight rocking for a prog album. It was conceived in a time when prog metal wasn't a genre for itself. Threshold were determined that the mixture of hard rock/metal and progressive rock would sound good, and guess what? It does.
Many has compared this album with Queensryche - the good one of Operation Mindcrime - on steroids, with more complex instrumentation yet extremely melodic and accesible.
While 'Wounded Land' isn't anything too unique in style, there's slight insinuations towards more individual, Threshold's trademark delivery.


"Wounded Land" is Threshold's debut, but it has been heralded as a milestone of Progressive Metal.
Crowned by a fantastic artwork it contained quite demanding, very intelligently arranged pieces, which, contrary to many other Prog Metal bands, always remained accessible with the song clearly stood in the foreground, there was no need for superfluous solo-show-offs.
This remastering sounds absolutely incredible, including as bonuses 3 tracks: "Intervention", which is taken from the CD original Japanese release, plus two tracks that didn't make it on the album, recorded at the beginning of the nineties with bass player Jon Jeary handling the vocals. All quality stuff.
"Wounded Land" is not an ordinary Progressive Metal album; it's melodic, crispy, almost catchy in its delivery.
Highly Recommended.


01 - Consume To Live
02 - Days Of Dearth
03 - Sanity's End
04 - Paradox
05 - Surface To Air
06 - Mother Earth
07 - Siege Of Baghdad
08 - Keep It With Mine
09 - Intervention (bonus track)
10 - Conceal The Face (bonus track)
11 - Shifting Sands (bonus track)


Damian Wilson - lead & backing vocals
Karl Groom - guitars, bass pedals
Richard West - keyboards, synths, orchestration
Jon Jeary - bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
Nick Midson - guitars
Tony Grinham - drums & percussion



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