History
Threshold began their career in 1988, initially playing covers of metal groups like Ratt and Testament. As they continued playing together, they began to write their own songs, and eventually stopped playing covers altogether. Early recordings were released locally on cassette under the band name "If Not,Why?". They played their first gig at The Compasses in Egham, Surrey, with Jon Jeary on vocals and Ian Bennett on bass. In 1992, they signed their first record deal, and after adding vocalist Damian Wilson to the group alongside guitarists Karl Groom and Nick Midson, bassist Jon Jeary and drummer Tony Grinham, produced their first commercial recording, "Intervention," which was released on a Dutch progressive rock compilation album. Shortly afterwards, keyboardist Richard West joined the band, and he remains with them to this day.
The band's debut album, Wounded Land, was released in 1993, taking its name and some thematic elements from Stephen R. Donaldson's novel of the same name. Wilson was unavailable to join the band for the followup tour, and so Glynn Morgan was recruited to replace him. He sang on the band's 1994 second recording, Psychedelicatessen, which spawned a music video for the song "Innocent," the band's first. The following year, Morgan and the band toured Europe and recorded some of their performances for the short live album, Livedelica.
Threshold took a break before their next effort, during which time Morgan and then-drummer Jay Micciche left to form Mindfeed. Rather than finding an unknown singer to replace him, the band turned again to Damian Wilson, and together they recorded 1997's Extinct Instinct. They followed this with another tour of Europe, this time supported by Enchant. Additionally, Johanne James, the band's current drummer, played with them for the first time during this tour. Wilson was unavailable for their next album, so former Sargant Fury vocalist Andrew "Mac" McDermott, joined to record Clone and would remain with them until 2007.
In 2001, Threshold released Hypothetical, which saw Johanne James firmly cemented as the band's permanent drummer. Another lineup change occurred in 2003, when bassist Jon Jeary left and was replaced by Steve Anderson. Around this time the band also re-released their first three studio albums in Special Editions, with bonus tracks, a remastered sound, expanded liner notes and, in the case of Wounded Land and Psychedelicatessen, special CD-ROM content. Their newer albums, starting with Hypothetical, were released in Limited Editions, with similar bonus content. Currently, Clone is the band's only regular release to not have an enhanced version, although it is possible that one will be produced in the future.
Threshold left their longtime label, InsideOut Music, in 2006 to join Nuclear Blast Records. The band released Dead Reckoning which spawned a music video for an edit of the song 'Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams'. The song also appeared on the 2008 movie soundtrack In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. This marks the first occasion of a song by the band appearing in a motion picture.
In July 2007 vocalist Mac left the band and original singer Damian Wilson returned as Threshold's frontman for the first time in nearly a decade for the band's tour dates which extended into 2009.
InsideOut Music released the first official Threshold compilation in November 2007. The album, titled "The Ravages of Time," is a two-disc set, covering all of the band's official albums from Wounded Land to Dead Reckoning.
In 2009 the band released a limited edition eight-disc singles box set, including previously unreleased b-sides and brand new re-recordings of old demo songs released in other forms before, including Smile At the Moon, (which was debuted live on the 2009 Essence of Progression Tour), Shifting Sands, Half Way Home and Fist of Tongues.
On the 5th November 2010, Threshold stated on their website that they had started writing a new album. The post stated "the new album is due for release through Nuclear Blast Records sometime in 2011" and that they "will record the new volume at Thin Ice Studios in the UK, with production as usual by Karl Groom and Richard West." The release date has now been revised to 2012.
On the 3rd of August 2011, former vocalist Andrew McDermott died of kidney failure.
On the 24th of August 2012, Nuclear Blast announced the release of March of Progress, an album that sees the return of Wilson on a studio release. The album has earned great reviews by the press and has generated a lot of interest once again. The band is set to tour extensively for the album.
Nuclear Blast, re-released all Thresold albums (except "Dead Reckoning") in the end of 2012, with bonus material.
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