This is the second cd of, the in ’97 formed band, Antithesis. The members have impressive musical backgrounds, according to the promotional biography: combined 40+ years (but with 5 members not so impressive: do the math!). And their influences range from metal of the eighties (Mercyful fate, Racer X) to semi-progressive metal (Fates Warning, Queensryche). Antithesis play old school US/Progressive metal and follow the same path of other bands like Jacobs Dream, but are by far not as good. If compared to for instance Iced earth, Jacobs Dream and Balance of Power than lack of inspiration becomes clear. Most tracks start promising with a nice, although mostly not catchy, riff. However, after a few seconds the riff is abandoned or transformed into a boring sound of a monotonous double bass and guitar.

For instance: track 8 should have been an 8,5 minute long masterpiece with a lot of different styles perfectly blended into one song (e.g. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by “Iron Maiden”). In stead it keeps on building up to a climax that doesn’t come, with guitar solo’s that are completely without line and don’t stick in your mind. On average it all sounds very superficial and it’s hard to reach the end of the album without losing interest. People who search for more melodious progressive music are better of leaving this album as it is. Only when you’re into one hour of never ending double bass and scraping guitars, listening to this might bring some enjoyment, although doubtful. There are a lot of other new progressive metal bands that are a lot better; this album has less than the average quality of this genre. Mediocre!