Oblivion Protocol's 'The Fall of the Shires' - Album Review

Given that fans of the British progressive metal band had to wait five years between the release of 2017's Legends of the Shires (which I reviewed here) and 2022's Dividing Lines (which I also reviewed here), I am sure speak for many when I say that I hope that they do not wait another five years to grace us with their presence. Threshold are one of the most consistent bands in the progressive metal world, having never released a bad album in my opinion, and anything new from them is always an auto-buy for me. Whilst we have not heard any news from them yet regarding a follow-up to Dividing Lines, which is hardly surprising given that it is less than a year old, Richard West, Threshold's keyboard player and one of the band's principal songwriters, surprised the fanbase earlier this year when he announced that he had been working on a sequel to Legends of the Shires away from the band - and that the album would be out in 2023. It is my understanding that, based on some of West's recent interviews, when Threshold were deciding how to follow up Legends of the Shires there were essentially two routes which they could have taken. West was quite keen to continue exploring the concept of Legends of the Shires, but the rest of the band wanted to move onto something new. It seems that the rest of the band won that argument, hence Dividing Lines, so West decided to continue the Legends of the Shires concept on his own - whilst also giving his all to Dividing Lines. I can only assume that West worked on both albums simultaneously, but given that he is such a prolific songwriter this clearly did not prove to be an issue - although it may explain why Threshold's frontman Glynn Morgan stepped up quite significantly as a songwriter on Dividing Lines. As the fanbase will have got their teeth into Dividing Lines by now, and the main tour in support of it is over, West has now switched his focus to his first solo project - and The Fall of the Shires was released last month. Despite the album being released under the name Oblivion Protocol, The Fall of the Shires feels very much like a solo album from West. He has written and produced the album himself, played all of the keyboards, and is also the project's lead singer. Oblivion Protocol is presented as a band, though, despite West's dominance, and he is joined in this venture by guitarist Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation; For All We Know), bassist Simon Andersson (Pain of Salvation; Darkwater), and drummer Darby Todd (Hot Leg; Martin Barre; Devin Townsend) - all of whom bring their years of experience to The Fall of the Shires. They are definitely here to support West's vision, though, and there is little musical showboating throughout. Sound wise, The Fall of the Shires sounds like Threshold in spots - but in others it feels more progressive rock than progressive metal, with less focus on big riffs and more space for West's keyboards and floating vocals. He is certainly no Morgan, Mac, or Damian Wilson, but West's voice has grown on me despite initially thinking it was quite weak. There are still plenty of metallic moments, but the difference in tone does help to set Oblivion Protocol apart from Threshold. West's songwriting style is distinctive, though, so there are clearly moments here which sound uncannily like his Threshold - as well as moments which deliberately reference Legends of the Shires both musically and lyrically.

Despite loving Legends of the Shires, I cannot say that I have ever really understood its concept. As such, the concept of The Fall of the Shires goes over my head somewhat - but it is nevertheless fun to hear the various call-backs throughout. The album's bookend tracks, the two-part The Fall, are the most obvious links to the 2017 album - with musical and lyrical references to the three-part The Shire suite and also Swallowed. West's Threshold bandmate Karl Groom adds his melodic guitar leads to both parts of The Fall, too, further linking the two albums. The album opens in atmospheric fashion, with swirling wind effects and some of the synthesised spoken word bursts which were scattered throughout Legends of the Shires. This is soon replaced by gentle acoustic guitars, and West starts to sing - with the vocal melodies lifted directly from The Shire suite. The song is not just a re-write, though, as the melodies start to change as the song moves along. Keyboards become more prominent during what seems to act as a subtle chorus - whilst Todd's drums add a little bite as things move along. Groom's guitar solo is the first big musical moment of the album - but there is more to come from Jolie later, and his warm acoustic tones help to bulk out The Fall - Part 1, which is certainly more rock than metal. The tone changes as Tormented crashes in, though, and the track feels much more typical of Threshold's core sound. Jolie's opening riff is pretty crunchy, and the staccato pattern which he churns out is typical of West's songwriting style. Despite this, though, the heaviness does not persist throughout. The song moves back and forth between riffier sections and keyboard-led parts. The chorus is heavier, with more of a guitar backing and some up-tempo drumming - whilst the verses are much more keyboard-focused, with plenty of synth textures and subtle bass playing. West's voice works best against a smoother backing, but he still manages to be heard during the heavier sections. His voice is on the thin side, but it has grown on me over repeated listens - but I do think the material here would have soared higher with a more powerful singer. Moving through the song, the piece does get a bit more instrument-focused, with a slow-burning Jolie solo introducing him in a lead capacity - before a frantic back-and-forth featuring some shredding from both him and West adds some high-octane metal to the piece. Public Safety Broadcast slows things down again initially, with some subtle keyboards and West's gentle voice creating an almost robotic vibe - which the band slowly grows around. Chiming guitar lines and a simple drum groove add depth, before a slightly heavier chorus later features big power chords and a tougher overall sound. Even during the chorus, though, the synths still tend to overpower the guitars, and that allows the song's floating atmosphere to remain. Sometimes I wish that the guitars were really allowed to cut through, but I feel as if West wanted to explore a bit of a different sound here - which is understandable. The atmospheric sound does help the album to stand out, though, and there is another pretty lengthy instrumental section here which does add some bite - with a Jolie guitar solo which builds in intensity, before West takes over with his synths. The vocal melodies are catchy, too, so the song is one that buries itself in the brain despite the smooth sound.

My personal highlight here is This Is Not a Test, a pretty spiky rocker which certainly has plenty of Threshold in its DNA. Jolie's opening guitar riff is simple, but it creates a strong energy - which West's driving 1980s-inspired synths sit perfectly on top of. The song also sounds pretty weighty throughout this time, with some staccato guitar stabs keeping the pace up during the verses, although a hooky piano motif creates the main verse hook over which West sings. There are some songs here which, despite very much sounding like a West composition, I cannot imagine Threshold recording - but this one could have very easily sat on a Threshold album with very limited tweaking. The chorus is built around the sort of anthemic hooks which Threshold have made their trademark, and West does a pretty good job bringing them to life - even if Morgan would have probably been a better fit overall. Despite this, though, the song is still a powerful rocker, and there is still plenty of the album's overall smoothness. The balance between the guitars and the keyboards is better struck, though, which helps it to have more weight - and there is more soloing from both Jolie and West, with West taking a pretty lengthy keyboard solo this time, following some brief shredding from Jolie. There is lots to enjoy about this album, but Threshold fans should certainly check out This Is Not a Test if they are unsure whether or not they want to take the plunge here. Storm Warning returns to something smoother overall, and it is another song that opens slowly and builds up over time. A bed of keyboards and West's vocals open the track, but the inclusion of a few very poppy wordless vocal hooks helps to set the song apart. At first they seem a bit out of place, given the atmospheric nature of the piece, but they work quite well over repeated listens - and the hooks provide a moment of joviality in what is generally quite a murky piece. The chorus is still pretty memorable, though, but it is not as overt as it could be - which contributes to the song's overall murky feel. This is very much a song focused more on atmosphere than hooks, which is why the hooky refrains stand out in the way that they do - and a lengthy solo from Jolie later adds to the song's overall progressive rock feel with some meandering melodies which West backs with some subtle organ. Occasional riffs add some bite, but generally this is a mid-paced and atmospheric rocker which focuses more on textures than big hooks. Vertigo slows things down further, and features West singing against a pretty dark-sounding set of synths - including some subtle programming and keyboard swells. The early parts of the song sound like something which could sit on a Roger Waters album, thanks to the sparse arrangement and unsettling tone, but there is some light in amongst the shade, too. Jolie soon adds some acoustic guitar to the mix, although his contributions are extremely simple - but they are enough to make the song feel less dark. From this point, the track does expand somewhat. Later verses are a bit lighter in tone, and the chorus is later expanded, too, to include some big guitar chords and more of a drum presence. The track remains a ballad throughout, though, and it is really the only genuine ballad here despite the overall smoothness which the album goes for. Fittingly, then, Jolie includes an emotional guitar solo - which is packed full of choice melodies and phrases.

Following the two somewhat slower pieces, the album then returns to something more riffy for the penultimate song Forests in the Fallout, which was the first song from the album released online to generate interest. Given the fact that the guitars are more prominent here, this does make West's voice feel a little on the weak side - and I was initially disappointed with what I heard. The song has grown on me quite a bit, though, and hearing it within the context of the album makes it make more sense. Getting used to West's voice has also significantly improved my opinion of the song. I think that because Threshold has always been defined by its strong vocalists, hearing a song in that style with weaker vocals was jarring - especially as this is another song here which could have sat on a Threshold album without too much being changed. I like the song a lot now, though, and West's spacey vocals during the chorus in particular now work for me - even if he does sound a little overpowered during the guitar-heavy verses. His synth solo is great, too, and it is great to hear him really letting rip as an instrumentalist here - as he has generally handed the soloing on this album over to Jolie. The combination of this solo and the song's big chorus makes Forests in the Fallout another strong track, and I am glad that I persevered with it despite initially being disappointed. The album then comes to a close with The Fall - Part 2, the companion piece to the album's opening cut - and, unsurprisingly, the two songs are quite similar. The acoustic guitar backing returns and the vocal lines from Legends of the Shires are also repurposed - with Groom once again adding his lyrical guitar leads where necessary. The song feels a bit more expansive than its predecessor, though, as it takes a number of the elements of the album's opening cut and makes them feel much bigger - and the track feels more progressive overall. Groom's lead guitar playing is much more prominent this time, and he is not just limited to a solo. There are a number of guitar leads throughout the piece, which help it to stand out - but there is still a guitar solo, too, which is full of emotion and smouldering power. Elsewhere, West's keyboard textures and sombre piano set the tone, though, and the album ends as it started - with a fairly downbeat overall mood which fades to a gentle close following some excellent guitar playing from Groom. I think it is fair to say that The Fall of the Shires took a little bit of time to grow on me, but with each listen my opinion of it improves. I went into it expecting to basically hear Threshold under a different name, and that is not entirely what The Fall of the Shires is. At times it very much does feel that way, but quite often it does not - and this is a much more atmospheric album, despite a few big hooks. It is great to hear a few big solos from Jolie, too - a player who is often extremely underutilised in Within Temptation. Whilst the guitars generally take a backseat here, and his riffing is pretty contained, his few solo moments add a lot to the album. Recent interviews with West suggest that he has more stories to tell within this world, so I imagine that there will be more albums under the Oblivion Protocol name going forward. Hopefully Threshold and Oblivion Protocol can exist side-by-side - and I am looking forward to West exploring more of this atmospheric sound going forward.

The album was released on 18th August 2023 via Atomic Fire Records. Below is the band's promotional video for This Is Not a Test.