Gig review: THRESHOLD + ENOCHIAN THEORY + CRYPTEX

Camden Underworld Friday March 1^st 2013

Threshold were kicking off their latest tour on home soil, although sadly their only UK day bar the upcoming prog festival Celebr8.2 in May in Kingston. A brave promoter needs to back them as I am sure they’d do well in the metal heartlands of the midlands, the north east and Glasgow.

First up we had Cryptex, who were playing in acoustic mode and had an impressive merchandise stall that would put some arena sized bands to shame. Sadly though the music was shall we say niche as the vocalist/keyboards player was very enthusiastic but vocally he was okay and the songs were nothing special even despite throwing in a newly composed song, an ode to Camden town. Maybe for some but not for me I am afraid.

Enochian Theory played a varied set, although my one gripe was the over reliance on backing tapes. It was a pity they couldn’t take on a keyboard player for the live dates. That said you can’t fault the three pieces musical abilities and they played some corkers of their recent album ‘Life…And All It Entails’, including set opener ‘This Aching Isolation’ and ‘Hz’. Ben Harris Hayes has a vocal that suits the mellower moments and he can certainly rock it out on the band’s more metal musical passages. An entertaining set and a band that I am sure will be become more widely known in prog rock circles over the coming year given the amount of live dates they have planned.

By the time Threshold took to the stage the Underworld was rammed and the biggest crowd I have seen at the Underworld for the band. Kicking off with ‘Mission Profile’ certainly put a smile on my face as it is one of my personal favourites. Damian Wilson, sporting a thick bushy beard, gives the band that extra dimension as he is a natural frontman as well as a quite phenomenal singer. He is equally at home on the heavier songs like ‘Don’t Look Down’ or on the epic ‘Pilot In The Sky Of Dream’s and an awesome version of ‘Angels’. Listening to this trio of songs it confirms all that I love about this band, the riffs, passionate vocals and classy musicianship that few other progressive metal bands can match.

The sound at times made it hard to pick out the keyboards of Richard West and poor old Pete Morten had a torrid time with his guitars, although he took it in his stride and Damian Wilson gave some onstage encouragement. Pete Morten’s playing compliments perfectly that of Karl Groom, often seen as ‘Mr. Threshold’ and certainly referred to as the boss by Damian Wilson during his onstage introductions.

An encore and audience sing-a-long of ‘Slipstream’ rounded off one of the best gigs I have seen by this band and by my reckoning this was the fifth time I have seen them! A great start to their tour and if you missed them this time get yourselves along to the excellent Celebr8.2 prog festival in May to see them headline.

Jason Ritchie

Enochian Theory setlist:

This Aching Isolation

The Dimensionless Monologue

Movement

The Fire Around the Lotus

Distances

Inversions

Singularities

Threshold setlist:

Mission Profile

Don’t Look Down

Coda

Part of the Chaos

Colophon

Pilot in the Sky of Dreams

Ashes

Angels

Staring at the Sun

Long Way Home

The Rubicon

Encore:

Slipstream

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)