NEO

Is the title of the second Torre Dell Alchimista album a nod to the neo-prog scene? Well, if it is you'd never guess from the music, which aside from a few keyboard textures doesn't draw very much on neo-prog. Instead, what we have here is more symphonic-derived RPI gorgeousness along similar lines to the band's first album, which perhaps a few more jazzy touches here and there as well as some nods to Emerson Lake and Palmer (with main keyboardist Michele Mutti referencing some of the same classical pieces that Keith Emerson turned his hand to in days gone by). It's a pleasant and enjoyable RPI album that keeps the flame alive for the style of prog practised by the likes of early Banco.