Threat Signal - Vigilance - Review

There have been many new bands in metal since the turn of the millennium, but few have impressed me with their first album as much as Threat Signal. From our very own Hamilton, Ontario, these big boys made it up to Nuclear Blast Records and made a point to stay there. Their first album ‘Under Reprisal’ was original and sick and as a puppy, and finally they give us our metal fix and pump out their sophomore album ‘Vigilance’. But don’t let the unoriginal album cover fool you, it’s actually a good album.

One big thing to mention is that ‘Vigilance’ is a lot tamer than Threat Signal previously demonstrated with ‘Under Reprisal’. You can hear it in the album opener ‘Afterlife’ right from the get go. Vocalist Jon Howard is obviously favouring his cleaner, yet still gruff, vocals this year. Change isn’t surprising though when a band’s lineup alters between album releases. Threat Signal got an entire overhaul though, as they lost guitarists Kyle McKnight and Rich Howard, bassist Marco Bressette, and drummer George Parfitt (all within the three year space between albums, mind you). They were replaced by Travis Montgomery, Adam Weber, Pat Kavanagh, and Norman Killeen, respectively. With the only surviving member being the vocalist, style change is to be expected. And even the vocalist changed. You won’t be hearing nearly as many of his jaw splitting high screams as before. He gave his medium screams plenty of time to shine and at most times sound a lot like those of Sonic Syndicate or The Bereaved . I think it’s a waste personally. There’s no vocalist I’ve heard scream as high. In Arkaea, his side project shared with Fear Factory, he also favours the rough singing over the screams.

‘Afterlife’ says a lot about the album. The overall sound is much less like death metal or metalcore and takes a more classic metal approach. The guitars are much more basic and the drums are nothing to speak of. The beats aren’t as fast and oddly timed. In fact, sometimes they are painfully basic. In fact, it reminds me quite a lot of Trivium’s new material. To be blunt, it sounds like they’ve merely toned down the amount of talent that they used to exude. At the core, they still sound like Threat Signal, but the way they go about it is much plainer. Terrible opening song choice on their part, but fear not, with the second song comes a faint glimmer of hope.

‘Through My Eyes’ fills much bigger shoes than the beginning of the album. It is faster and more oddly timed, the vocalist screams high again, and sound much more like Threat Signal should. It slows down into a strangely mellow breakdown, but it kept my attention with its relaxed metal tempo. ‘The Beginning of the End’ sounds suspiciously like Killswitch but Jon Howard’s high scream transforms it back into TS soon enough. Catchy, slide guitar and a disgustingly sweet guitar solo hold this one together better than most. Hold up, there’s also a fist injuring breakdown immediately following. Yeah, this album’s getting better. Not quite the TS I remember, but still a sick sound besides.

‘United We Stand’ tempos up a breakdown beat through most of the song, along with guitars that make my shoulders twitch with goodness shivers. A twin guitar solo chills it down until it revs back up with another breakdown. Not such an original one, but head bopping. ‘Beyond Recognition’ finally whips out the double kick, but I still stick to my earlier statement that the drummer is subpar. The beats and fills are basic but the fancier guitar work almost makes up for it. ‘Another Source of Light’ takes inspiration from the European metal sound, sporting slower tempo beats with a lot of low intensity yelling. This song almost sounds like something Soilwork or In Flames might have put together as a more emotional switch out of their normal heaviness.

‘Hate Machine’ brings back the American guitars but keeps the European thrash beats. This one has some appealing guitars riffs and just might psych you up again. ‘Severed keeps the generic song formula alive with its turn-taking heavy verse to a calmer chorus. This turns into a classical guitar opening in ‘Lost’, (a welcome addition – there’s no overabundance of mellowing down in this album) but then soon changes to some melodic chugging and earlier said basic metal song formula. Kick in another amazing guitar solo. By the end of the song, any pussyfooting they were doing before stopped dead as soon as ‘To Remember’ funneled through my speakers. In true metal tradition, it ends heavy. I left a ring of drool on my shirt; it’s such a step up from the last few songs.

The basic formula goes on for a total of thirteen full length songs, which I must say is a tasty and satisfying breath of fresh air considering all the half hour albums lately. I commend TS for that, and for handling such a crazy lineup change so well. All things considered, they maintained Threat Signals identity fairly well. The loss of a better drummer than they currently have hurt them, but their new guitarists satisfy my metal urges. I am not happy about their dulling down the intensity that they held in ‘Under Reprisal’, but I do like the pages they took out of the Euro metal scene. And of course with the loss of their guitarist Rich Howard, the clean vocals that backed their last release are gone. I did enjoy them before, and they will be missed.

As their sophomore album, it is difficult to succeed a strong first album, but I still expected more from them than they gave me. I think they tried to make it too generic. It doesn’t possess the originality and all out brutal condition that ‘Under Reprisal’ did. I’m crossing my fingers that this downslide doesn’t continue, because that has been the fate of too many good bands. It would be a shame if their best years were their first. But I have confidence in them. It was a difficult hill to climb this time around, but I’m giving ‘Vigilance’ 3 out of 5 napkins. Hamilton, you build a tasty five-piece.

Artist: Threat Signal
Album: Vigilance
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release: September 11, 2009
Rating: 3/5 napkins