Looking back at the metal scene in the early 90's, I remember how apprehensive most of us were about the idea of adding keyboards or female vocals to heavy metal. It is true that bands like Paradise Lost, Nocturnus and The Gathering managed to bring down quite a lot of these musical barriers with their work on albums such as "Gothic", "Threshold" and "Always", yet the norm was for both female vocalists and keyboard players to be treated with both scepticism and disrespect.

Well, it looks like the new millennium brought a fresh wind of change in people's minds and attitudes. Not only did the majority of female vocalists/musicians manage to establish themselves in this male-dominated musical society, but in the case of bands like Lacuna Coil and Nightwish, played a predominant role in the evolution and popularity of our music.

But long before we became exposed to Tarja Turunen's and Cristina Scabbia's ethereal outfits and stage performances, there were bands like the West Yorkshire outfit Dominion, whose musical contribution was bigger and more important than people in the early 90's could have ever imagined. Proof of that can be found in Peaceville's eighteen-track collection "Threshold - A Retrospective".

Strangely enough, I never even heard of Dominion prior to receiving this CD, and believe me when I say that this was indeed quite an unfortunate thing. You see, Dominion have little (if nothing) to do with the average female-leading metal bands. In their relatively short life, this quintet managed to release two albums of a unique nature ("Interface" and "Blackout”), and have some of their members appear as guests in Anathema's "Eternity" and My Dying Bride's "34.788%...Complete". Let's see what this collection is all about.

Listening to the first few songs of "Threshold" will probably lead you to the conclusion that Dominion's style bears influences from the folky aspects of Skyclad and the technical tendencies of late Fates Warning...well, unusual as it may sound, that is indeed the case, yet it seems that there are many more interesting and also quite diverse influences waiting to be discovered in this eighteen-track release. The opening tribal theme of "Prism" will undoubtedly remind you of the album "Roots" (Sepultura), whereas the quite stonery riffs of "Tears From The Stars" and "Joyful Tears of Sorrow" will show a quite interesting aspect of the band's style and sound.

Michelle Richfield (vocals) plays a significant role in this band, but her vocal approach is far from being labelled "cute" or ordinary. I was both surprised and amazed by her performance in songs like "What is Truth?" and "Threshold" where her technique and style sounds a lot like those of Eric A.K (Flotsam and Jetsam) - quite an unusual approach, but also very successful. Looking closely at the remaining compositions of the album, fans of Slayer will be more than happy to listen to the riffs that are displayed in "Millennium" and "Hollowvision", whereas those who are more into classic metal and bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest will probably vote for the amazing "Silhouettes". Finally, a cover of "Shout" (Tears For Fears) and Aaron Stainthorpe's participation in "Alive" is a tasty dessert, that will only add to the positive impression that you will hopefully make for this album.

It is really sad that this band never managed to make a big name for themselves. Does that have anything to do with Dominion's skills or musical abilities? Definitely not - I believe that it was all due to bad timing! Anyway, seeing as you young metalheads are far more open-minded than we were, make sure to check out this band, and try to avoid the same mistakes that we did!

****½

Review by John Stefanis