CLONE

Clone is a significant landmark in the Threshold discography for two reasons: it's the last studio album they put out on Giant Electric Pea, the small neoprog-focused label they started out on, and it's the first one to feature the vocals of Andrew "Mac" McDermott, who counting this one would fill the role for five studio albums - more than any other lead vocalist they've had, at least the time I'm writing this.

So, how is he? Well, here he feels a touch more generic than Damian Wilson, but then again I thought the same of Glynn Morgan on Psychedelicatessen and then discovered he was able to get more into the swing of things on the live release Livedelica, so perhaps after this Mac would spread his wings a bit more. He's certainly competent at his craft, but as with Psychedelicatessen this is a case where you have a vocalist who is acceptable but not exceptional performing over a musical backing which, by and large, is more interesting.

Then again, like I said when I reviewed Psychedelicatessen, this is prog metal - a field which can sustain that sort of approach if the material's good enough. By and large it is, with a futuristic theme based around concerns about genetic engineering (and, perhaps more on point, concerns about whether such technology would be responsibly be used in the lassaiz-faire corporate environment of modern capitalism), supported by a darkly compelling musical backing. I found myself warming to Mac's voice by the end of Clone more than I'd warmed to Morgan's vocals on Psychedelicatessen - like I said, it took Livedelica to sell me on him - and he has some of his finest moments towards the end on tracks like Voyager II.

As with all Threshold's early albums, it takes me a while to ease into this one; I also think Change is a fairly weak song which the album would be significantly tighter without. That's a shame, because I think that other than that the album finds them continuing to refine their approach. After this, they'd shift from Giant Electric Pea to InsideOut, following in the footsteps of other acts who got sufficient traction on GEP to move over to InsideOut in order to benefit from the larger label's broader distribution network and more active marketing. Threshold were here on the threshold of the big time - which means it's good that they took this moment to take stock and give their sound a last tune-up to make it ready for prime time.