Kingcrow is an atmospheric alternative rock/metal group from Italy with both classic and modern influences, pairing a bluesy faux-70's fuzz guitar tone with lush synth pads, electronic percussion loops and moody vocals inspired by Scandinavian art rock bands like Anathema and Katatonia, with heavy chorus effects.

I have seen them tagged as 'progressive rock/metal', and while they clearly draw some influence from the instrumental and vocal tones of such groups, particularly in the pseudo-operatic high vocal range, their music is universally 4/4, with no solos.  They write in a pop-like structure more comparable to early 00's alternative and art rock bands heard on the radio here in the US, like Dredg, God Lives Underwater or Porcupine Tree.  It makes sense when I see this is the era during which the band first formed.

While I don't think I'd call it 'progressive', their style has its own sort of cinematic drama, created by the ebb and flow of string synth accompaniment and clever vocal harmonies.  The guitar is pleasantly textural, sticking largely to pentatonic rhythm parts with a warm tube amp tone, and some Tool-esque groovy palm muted chugs.  They seem to struggle to fully engage when the moment calls for true heaviness, and there are a few of the chunkiest sections that just feel lacking in gain and precision.

The vocalist Diego Marchesi seems to struggle at times to hit pitches and maintain breath support, and his lyrics can be over-general and trite.  The first line on the album is "As you say, this world is hard sometimes / Yes we fade, but we got right back up".  Nonetheless, his note choices are haunting and poignant in some of the album's choruses, and the lush harmonies in the climactic moments are the album's best feature.

Overall, this is a melodically satisfying album with a significant amount of interesting emotional content in the vocal melodies, song progressions and layered atmospheric production, but tends towards a sort of maudlin, wallowing energy, with over-simplified musicianship, and some performances that could use a bit more enthusiasm and variety.  It's solid atmospheric rock, but too single-mindedly depressive to listen often.