Twelfth Gate – “Threshold of Revelation”
Patience is necessary with this traditional metal high-pitched wailing, lots of time changes, guitars that twist and turn, drumming that is playing a song as much as it is showing off. The first listens can sound downright annoying and headache-inducing. Talk about serious metal! Nevertheless, repeated listens reveal that, in fact, there is a real coherence, that the songs do flow and that the considerable talent is put to good use. Furthermore, more listens bring forth all sorts of things not obvious earlier on, which only encourages more listens. After a while it becomes apparent that there is lots of thrashing going on. Technical, progressive power thrash like this goes over some people’s heads the first few times they hear it, but the person that enjoys dedicated musicality will note this 40-minutes-plus album gets better each time.