Prog metal. Whenever I hear this term, I prepare myself for long-winded songs that are half-music and half fuzzy noise, but EXCALION has found the strengths in this normally pretentious and overblown genre. Right from the start, it becomes clear that keyboards play an important role in this band, and they complement the guitars really well on the opening track, “Temptation Wasteland”. “A Moment in the Spotlight” has a very catchy chorus that may even appeal to the mainstream, but before you throw up your hands in disgust at the thought of it, they unleash an amazing solo that reminds you, oh yeah, this is metal.
The band continues to astound on “Reality Bends” which sprints out of the gate with a keyboard run that is awe-inspiring. The vocalist seems to have been enrolled in the school of Bruce Dickinson and Geoff Tate (Iron Maiden and Queensryche, respectively), and has an impressive range that would make those two proud. “Heart and Home” is the lone ballad on the album, and it is about the vocalist’s deceased wife; it’s well-executed, has a purpose and is clearly not on the album just for the sake of having a ballad.
Out of the nine songs here, six of them are over five minutes long, with the last track, “Obsession to Propser”, being just shy of eight minutes. It doesn’t drag at any point, and you don’t look at the seconds passing on each track hoping for the song to end. That is the sign of quality prog.
