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Tipped as the next big thing in Prog Metal when it came out seven years ago, this little project made up of former members of Seven Witches and Eternity X made a splash in central Europe by playing with bands such as Savatage and Fates Warning but sadly only got round to making one record, their ill-fated debut The Sign of Tomorrow, and despite the cool as hell artwork and a decent production (that isn't all that great, really, folks), it's not quite the Prog-Power masterpiece the world had hoped for.

Exhibition play a particularly melodic brand of Prog Metal with plenty of double kicking and harmonious Maiden-isms to let it play with the Power Metal boys on occasion, although being from the US school there is much more Queensryche and Fates Warning worship here than anything the Europeans like to throw in. There are a glut of complex instrumental passages, some nice guitar solos and emotive leads (which are probably the highlight here) and a variation in pace and approach, making every song on this thing sound different from the one before. That being said, there are almost no hooks here (except for the very Rage For Order-esque refrain found on "Strange Reality") and Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas's thick, Tate-like vocals get a little annoying after a while, never diverging from the stand model and sounding, well, a little wooden.

Fans of the genre will pick holes in this thing upon first listen, but, like forest lichen, it grows on you if you spend enough time with it. True, there are some pleasant parts, and those enamored with the more melodic side of the US metal spectrum will find much to like. But despite being Jersey boys, they ain't no Symphony X. And after this much silence, I doubt they'll return to prove me wrong.