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David Cross is a well-known musician for being part, between 1972 and 1974, of the second incarnation of King Crimson, the one that produced masterpieces like "Lark’s Tongues In Aspic" and "Starless And Bible Black", which included, besides Robert Fripp, the late bassist John Wetton, drummer Bill Bruford, and percussionist Jamie Muir. David Cross's distinctive violin certainly gave new colorings to the “Crimsonian” sound. Now "Sign Of The Crow" is released, an album distributed by Black Widow and attributed to the David Cross Band. I must say right away that it is a bombshell, a powerful and dark record, in the vein of the King Crimson of the '70s with whom Cross was involved. The lineup includes, besides the English violinist, Jinia Wilde on vocals, Mick Paul on bass, Paul Clark on guitar, Craig Bundel on drums, and Alex Hall on keyboards. The lyrics are by Richard Palmer-James.
"Sign Of The Crow" is characterized by a hard sound, very close to certain solutions by King Crimson: however, one immediately notices less obsession with research and a greater focus on melody. The opening "Starfall" is a great piece, in its way a small classic to which it is impossible to resist. The following title track is compact and disruptive, another peak of the record. After the intense "Crowd Surfing", which continues in the same vein, comes the long and folk-tinged "The Pool": it's impossible to remain indifferent in front of such beauty that takes us back to mythical times when King Crimson reigned. We are on levels of absolute excellence. But the rest of the album also maintains good quality standards with the dark and gloomy "Raintwist", the aggressive "Spiderboy", always oriented towards metal territories with prominent guitar, and "Mumbo Jumbo" which shows jazz and Eclectic-Prog contamination. After the calm "Water On The Flame", characterized by Cross's beautiful violin, the closure is entrusted to "Rain Rain", rich in variations and rhythm changes.
"Sign Of The Crow" is a masterpiece that all King Crimson fans should not miss.
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