Moving steadily from their Hard Rock roots and exploring a more ambitious route in composing seems to be the key to their appeal.

If ever there was a nation suited to producing quality Progressive Rock music it should be Italy; a country which established itself as long time champions of the likes of Genesis and their early seventies peers and Prog Rock pioneers. These soon to become Prog Rock giants wowed the Italians in their early days with their quirky and intelligent Progressive compositions and the feeling was mutual. For all their passion for the Progressive form, their own Prog outpourings have come through a number of bands, yet widespread success seems to be mainly restricted to acts such as PFM and more recently Ranestrane.

However, plodding steadily along since their inception in 1996 have been Kingcrow and this six-piece outfit's latest offering, 'Eidos', symmetrically appears as their sixth album. Being a name which might not ring any bells, what does 'Eidos' have to offer?

Moving steadily from their Hard Rock roots and exploring a more ambitious route in composing seems to be the key to their appeal, Kingcrow aren't afraid of throwing in the odd crushing chord or heading off at tangent to explore various atmospheres and ambiences; for example take a listen to 'Open Sky' where the dreamy quality of the washes of keyboards and lead and acoustic guitars perfectly captures the song title. They also comfortably launch themselves into longer formed pieces – 'At The Same Pace' driving along on a wave of melodic guitar before, perhaps unexpectedly from the title, a change of pace kicks in. The title track is another such selection which is more ambitious in its construction, full of angular riffs and jerky rhythms.

'Fading Out (Part IV)' is the latest part in a sequence that began on 2006's 'Timetropia' – just the sort of things that Prog fans love – and like 'The Deeper Divide', provides an acoustic-based element in contrast to the more prevailing electric nature of the album. Add to that a drummer with the apt name of Manuel Thundra Cafolla combined with tight arrangements and clean production and you have a quality album which opens up another door in the Progressive arena for fans of the genre to discover.

Having recently listened to new records in the same field from Transience and Leprous, Kingcrow are in good company in flying the flag for contemporary Progressive Rock and Metal. No way are they out of their depth and this being the first time many may have come across a recommendation for Kingcrow's music, what awaits afterwards is the pleasure and the thrill of discovering their back catalogue.

Mike Ainscoe