Kingcrow - The Persistence - 2018



    

“... we know there will be a light ... at the end of the rope ...”

intro

In September 2015 progVisions published the “Eidos” review of the Italian Progressive Rock formation Kingcrow. I described the album as a wonderful album full of great progressive music with a heavy bite. An album without weak points and an album that is in balance. Now three years later the band is again supporting Pain Of Salvation on their tour and has a new album out. The album is called “Persistence” and is again released on the Sensory Records, a sub label of The Laser’s Edge. The album has been released on CD, 2xLP and digital formats. The vinyl version features three bonus tracks recorded at ProgPower USA.

line-up

Diego Marchesi - vocals; Diego Cafolla - guitars, bass guitar; Ivan Nastasi - guitars; Cristian Della Polla - synths & keyboards; Thundra Cafolla - drums & percussion 

review

With their previous album the band finished their “life trilogy” which included “Phlegethon”, “In Cresendo” and “Eidos”. The new album “Persistence” is a new chapter for the band who needed somehow to step a bit outside of their comfort zone to refresh their sound. But don’t worry, if you like the predecessor “Eidos” you will probably also love the new “Persistence” album. The band described the new sound as KingCrow music with a kind of a dark ambient and a more modern vibe mixed with a heavier rock attitude.

You can find the following 10 tracks on this fine album: “Drenched”, “Closer,” “Everything Goes”, “Folding Paper Dreams”, “The Persistence”, “Every Broken Piece Of Me”, “Devil’s Got A Picture”, “Night’s Descending”, “Father” and “Perfectly Imperfect”.

That heavier rock attitude you can hear in the opener “Drenched”, an uptempo track with aggressive guitar parts and some amazing drumming by Thundra Cafolla. Closer has beautiful melodic vocal lines and harmonies. With great keyboard orchestrations the tension of the music is building up towards a climax but ends with acoustic guitars and a beautiful vocal line. In this way it perfectly connects to the next song “Everything Goes”. A ballad with nice vocal melodies and tasteful keyboard parts. Talking about vocal melodies the next song “Folding Paper Dreams” is for me one of the highlights of the albums. Melody wise it is an exceptional song. A diverse track that also includes nice instrumental parts and keyboard orchestrations. Then it is time for the title track “Persistence”. At this point I have to mention keyboardist Cristian Della Polla who impressed me by his wonderful keyboard orchestrations on this album. The powerful song “Persistence” develops into the next highlight of the album. “Every Broken Piece Of Me” opens with a beautiful and delicate vocal part. Beautiful vocal parts are combined with heavy instrumental injections and tasteful keyboard strings. As the title predicts the song “Devil’s Got A Picture” is an uptempo and powerful song. The band uses the same trick as I described before to connect the song musically better to the next track “Night’s Descending”. A slow song with the most beautiful vocal melodies and breathtaking keyboard orchestrations. In the last vocal parts guest Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation) transports the song to a next level with his passionate vocal contributions. The album closes with the songs “Father” and “Perfectly Imperfect”. The first one has emotional lyrics about a son who is hypothetically speaking to his father. Musically speaking the ending is very powerful. “Perfectly Imperfect” is of course a great title for a song. It is a worthy song with excellent drumming to end this fine album.

conclusion

The Italian Progressive Metal band Kingcrow made with “Persistence” a full-fledged successor for their highly appreciated “Eidos” album. The mix has a more Rock influenced and Powerful sound. But in the songs you you can find enough delicate and melodic moments. You can find beautiful vocal melodies and impressive keyboard orchestrations on this album. If you liked it’s predecessor “Eidos” I am sure you will enjoy this new “Persistence” album also. Again no wreaks points and an album that is in balance. Personally I love the attention that is given to connect the songs with each other. In this way there are nowhere abrupt musical transitions ... this album sounds musically speaking like a whole.

author - date - rating - label

Douwe Fledderus - October 2018 -   - Sensory (The Laser’s Edge)