I have followed this Italian progressive metal band has ever done ever since I saw them play at ProgPower Europe in 2011. They were already experienced then but every album they’ve released since has blown me away. Always expressive, always powerful and Opeth-like in the sense of the fine balance of epic passages and more delicate moments, I’ve found myself hanging onto every idea and every note. Here are they again with their 8th album.
In my impatience to hear Kingcrow’s latest work I broke a personal unwritten rule by watching a promotional video of a song from an album. Normally I prefer to listen to an album whole and form my own images. The song in question was “Night Drive”, which unsurprisingly is about a night drive and the distance between what I presume are boyfriend and girlfriend. Carrying the hallmarks of a solid Kingcrow song as described above, the video was evocative and moody. I concluded that Kingcrow are not a 5-minute band, which is the duration of this perfectly acceptable song, but more a 53-minute one, which is the length of “Hopium”. There’s plenty to absorb before I was to revisit “Night Drive”. The album starts with “Kintsugi”. Commercial in its sound with an electronic beat pumping through layers of prog sophistication, it’s a fluid song with a catchy chorus. Diego Marchesi is the vocalist – his smooth yet vulnerable vocals have wonderful expression. The electro element is no passing style as “Glitch” features the same, but this time in an accented prog style. The song is Hakenesque in the sense that it sets its own rules and has a quirkiness while not deviating from its complex script. It’s intriguing and it works.
“Parallel Lines” has the feel of a shadowy, dark drama. This could be theme music. The song slopes off into a typically emotive chorus. With the keyboardist providing the waves, a guitar solo cuts in. I’d suggest that Kingcrow have gone further than ever to create more colour in their music. The vocal performance is once again heavenly. Passages change and bring us new moods. Not the first time when listening to a Kingcrow song I am utterly spellbound by this riot of carefully concocted sounds. “Parallel Lines” is again Hakenesque in. its development but above all it’s a musical masterpiece. The echoing electro tones of “New Moon Harvest” recall the atmosphere that Opeth can create in their dreamy moments. The song itself is dreamy and mellow, releasing into a guitar solo and expanding in sound as it reaches its conclusion with the chorus line. “Losing Game” starts acoustically. Again it comes from the softer end of the Kingcrow spectrum. Diego leads the vocals impeccably. The song picks up without losing continuity but gaining in emotional magnetism. A proper prog section intervenes. We are driven along by the vivacious guitar work. “Now the curtain has fallen” is the repeated line. Kingcrow cleverly peddle exquisite harmonies with it for maximum effect, all to the backdrop of a light-as-air and catchy rhythm. This band has form when it comes to stopping us in our tracks with powerful and impeccably delivered and structured songs without resorting to showmanship – “Folding Paper Dreams” off the “Persistence” album comes to mind, but there are so many more – and they’re doing it again here.
The melancholic beat and delivery of “White Rabbit’s Hole” starts as pure Porcupine Tree. The song bursts into life with heightened passion and intricate harmonisation before returning to the figurative dreamy riverside on a summer’s day. The song takes another turn with a heavier prog section and accentuated vocal from Diego – that description of mine is mundane but it’s far from that. This is tense and exciting. We then take that “Night Drive”. Without the distraction of the video, I was able to appreciate more the calming rhythm, the quiet symphony and Diego’s heartfelt vocals. It flows like a stream or I suppose a car running down a deserted road, picking up and continuing to haunt us. A prog section interrupts the flow, and accompanied by electro waves, a metal guitar solo creates the final moments of tension. A thought I had was that it’s almost as if Kingcrow have tried too hard to input complexity into their songs. “Vicious Circle” is one I just didn’t get. The title song on the other hand is like a triumphant prog march, gradually creeping up and expanding into measured enormity. The album closes with “Come Through”, an acoustic melancholic piece. Beautifully and sensitively delivered, its softness matches the general tone of this album and mark a shift in values compared to previous works.
With its softer crust and occasional prog diversions, I found “Hopium” less dynamic and more disjointed than its predecessors. A lot of creative thought has gone into the construction of this album, unsurprisingly so given the pedigree of this band, but ultimately I personally felt its impact less. This said, all the great qualities are there. Complex musical artwork is made to sound simple. Believe me, this album is a collection of sophisticated sounds. Often smooth and silky and always conveying moods and tension, the album flies off here and there into unadulterated prog territory. This time round Kingcrow have reduced the epic passages, and seem to have chosen a quieter route and one where they experiment more with prog patterns, electronic waves and harmonies. Some of those harmonies and vocal expressions are stellar. I confess that Kingcrow, who are without doubt one of my favourite prog bands, lost me at times but as a whole “Hopium” is still a powerful and in line with its title an addictive album. In spite of my reservations, this band has retained their unerring ability to grab me before taking hold of my senses. Kingcrow’s skill lies in developing musical works of art into mini-dramas, and here again there is plenty of evidence of this skill.
(8/10 Andrew Doherty)
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