A classic debuts album this one! The first excellent studio release from Threshold received great reviews and introduced Threshold as one of the most exciting new bands in Progressive Metal. Although they sometimes reminds a little bit of Dream Theater, Threshold are not even close to being a Dream Theater clone as so many other progressive metal bands today.

Threshold has gone through many different band line-ups, and this album is the only with Tony Grinham on the drums. The vocals are handled by Damian Wilson who after this release departure from Threshold. He joined them later for the release of "Extinct Instinct" in 1997 and then went his own way again for other musical obligations. His vocals though are very good and his contribution to this album is very important. Sometimes his voice reminds of Robert Plant. The musicians are very skilful especially the guitar player Karl Groom.

The music is sometimes close to heavy metal and sometimes not, but always very melodic. There are a lot of tempo changes and lengthy instrumental sections. The album has got some great arrangements, and the highlights are "Days Of Dearth", "Sanity's End" and the 10:14 minute epic track "Surface to Air". This track is very beautiful and it contains many different mood changes. "Mother Earth" is perhaps the heaviest track on this album.

This is not an ordinary progressive album; it's simply one of the best debut albums from 1993, and a good investment to your CD collection. Highly recommended!