Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There was a time when the word Progressive was seen as one of being overblown, of residing in the minutes through the symphonic display and the elongated chorus, a timeless wonder that didn’t know when its time was seemingly up.

Progressive though, as it was always apt to do, evolved, the art of the story changed and out of its shadow a new way of thinking took to the stage, one on which the human factor became more apparent and the reliance on the oblique became a backdrop to old world fantasies.

The other change forced upon the genre was the way it has been embraced outside of its English pastoral and the Jazz roots to which it clung on with a tight embrace, and whilst it could be argued that many of the leading exponents of the art are still immersed in this ritual quality, there are more than enough original artists from beyond the shires to whom the attitude of their performance is not only astonishing, but necessary to the forms continued success.

In En Declin’s A Possible Human Drift Scenario the emotional highs are almost sacred, the expressive maturity is one that embraces the melancholic and devours the sentiment with grace, and as songs such as the opening track of the album, It’s Time To Give It The Boot, the strangely exotic and even mystic nature of Gea and Caronte, the framing of the musical picture that encompasses Das Eismeer, the Social Legal Limbo and even in the unexpected but sympathetic cover of Phil Collins’ Another Day In Paradise prove with sincerity, En Declin deserve the praise they receive as of one of Italy’s most assured and exciting bands of the melodic Progressive scene.

It is in the ability to convey meaning that an audience will identify with, and En Declin appeal and communication endear themselves to those even with one ear firmly rooted in the pastoral past, the elegance of narration, clean, unabridged and succinct, all comes to pass with A Possible Human Drift Scenario given credence and room to be expressed.

A gentleness that alludes others can be firmly found in this stunning piece of music, one to which Italy’s En Declin should be rightly proud of producing. An album that transports you beyond the pastoral and brings the Progressive up to date, one of broad-minded style.

En Declin’s A Possible Human Drift Scenario is out now.

Ian D. Hall