When Threat Signal burst out of a virtually nonexistent metal scene in the filth that comes to mind when hearing Hamilton, Ontario and into a position to start getting signed to labels and finding themselves supporting some of their musical idols in the process, it was pretty exciting for Canadian metal fans, especially those of us born in that area, to see some of the boys making it out into the big world of melodic death metal. The band’s first release was a pretty stellar combination of various influences of the band, resulting in pretty entertaining metal music; unfortunately, shortly after this release, the majority of the band (in fact, all but vocalist Jon Howard remain from the original lineup) decided they couldn’t work with their singer or something in that vein and moved on. While the vocals were a nice draw to this first record, the instrumentation was what I was really in it for. Upon these events unfolding, I figured the band was done (for me anyway) and I would go on my continuous search for new music all the same. This would not be the case, as three years later the band come back with “Vigilance”, comprised of (obviously) completely new members (minus the aforementioned vocalist), but retaining much of the sound of the debut outing. While this might sound pretty good at first, really it adds up to a different group of musicians attempting to replicate the hodgepodge “Threat Signal sound”. The record isn’t a total waste of time, as a few tracks should manage to entertain at least fans of the band’s work, but a listener can’t help but sigh at another example of band chemistry that just can’t quite stick.
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