NIGHTBLADE – Closer to the Threshold
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 10-07-2013
Promising no nonsense heavy metal in their bio literature, UK quartet Nightblade delivers their second album "Closer to the Threshold" chock full of a lot of expected Iron Maiden/ Judas Priest and Metallica influences in these 10 songs. Vocalist Mark Crosby has a lot of Paul Di’anno meets Bob Mayo (Wargasm) in his range and resonance for songs like "It’s All About You" and "Over My Dead Body"- but often resorts to monotone warbling through the verses of "Your Soul, Right of Way".
A little long winded in certain verse/ riff selections ("Tongue Tied and Broken" an obvious offender), "Closer to the Threshold" is pure heavy metal straight out of the NWOBHM school. Preferred the up tempo arrangements over the ones where they settle into mid-tempo anthem land- as such there were more of the latter and less of the former, making "Closer to the Threshold" an uneven, average affair.
A classic case of self-editing and pruning would have made Nightblade a sharper, stronger act worthy of recommendation- instead this is still a work in progress.