"After all, we do progressive rock, and if you don't progress you don't rock!"

Vocalist Andrew "Mac" McDermott presents "Dead Reckoning" - the new studio offering by Britain's progressive metal quintet Threshold. Read it to find out more about the connection to the group with Dan Swano and Marillion, and then download and listen to it by all means - after all, you won't hear a world-famous frontman singing hymns in honour of Tangra Mega Rock every day!

Vassil Varbanov: Mac, good evening! Where are you at the moment?

Andrew "Mac" McDermott: I'm sitting in my bedroom in front of the computer doing interviews all night.

V. V.: The reason to put you on the show tonight is the "Dead Reckoning" album. It's kind of more straightforward than what we're used to expect from Threshold. Was it on purpose?

Mac: Yes. We didn't want to do an album just the same as the last one. After all, we do progressive rock, and if you don't progress you don't rock, ha-ha!

V. V.: One of the most surprising things on the record is that you got Dan Swano to sing backing vocals on two of the tracks. How did it happen?

Mac: To be honest, when I got the demos from Rich (Richard West - keyboards) I was like, fuck, how am I gonna sing this!? I mean, Rich pushes me further for every album, to the highest point, and now he tried to push me to get lower in the vocals, and also growl... Very progressive in a way, he-he! And once he said, no, you don't have to do it, we'll get someone else to sing that.

V. V.: You know, Dan Swano used to be a death metal vocalist, who at the same time claimed that one of his all-time favourite bands is the British art-progressive group Marillion. What do you think of them?

Mac: You won't believe it, but... I don't know how the original drummer of Marillion was called...?

V. V.: Mick Pointer.

Mac: Yeah. So I was recording one of the Threshold albums, sitting in the garden outside of the studio and drinking tea with him. It's the truth! I turned to him and said, oh, look, a garden tea party! You know the song, right? I used to love Marillion!

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock