This Italian band got it's start by guitarist Gianluca Ferro (Doomsword, Time Machine) and keyboardist Mark Vikar (Power Symphony, Beholder) and the driving force was their love for progressive rock and progressive metal. The final piece of the puzzle was in place with the addition of vocalist Pino Tozzi and the result is a debut album that has all the hallmarks of a great conceptual sci-fi progressive rock album yet with enough heaviness and crunching riffs to more than satisfy prog metal fans.

This whole album follows a loose concept whereby the existence of the human race is under the microscope along with the "footprint" that we will leave behind long after we have vanished as well as offering a look into the future of what is ahead of us if we are to survive as a race of beings. Tracks like The Last Experiment and Evil Tree feature healthy doses of de-tuned guitars, and a more modern era Dream Theater style. Pino Tozzi has the same sort of style and range as James LaBrie with The Last Experiment dealing with alien abduction and experimentation and The Evil Tree offering a post-apocalyptic viewpoint. Both tracks also have some progressive rock elements with abstract segments and a mix of melodic and dark passages with a little psychedelia thrown in for added effect. Not Through Our Eyes looks at humanity from the outside looking in and features a lighter mid 90's Dream Theater style along with complex and expansive heavier sections. Into The Black Hole is a swirling vortex of de-tuned, chugging riffs, synthesizer fills and soaring lead guitar in a spacey epic that also leans more towards the mid 90's Dream Theater style. Proxima Centauri is a look at the search for a new land in the face of extinction on our homeland and is very Images And Words influenced with the melody lines and choruses. A heavy, guitar based track, it uses a very effective blend of light and heavy passages and has one of the more memorable chorus sections on the album. The Invention Of God has a lighter, spacey and more psychedelic feel and deals with our current concept of God and how the ideals of both religion and science came to some agreement about what God is as a deity. Life is never ending, much like the Solar Winds. That is the general concept of Solar Winds and after a dreamy Pink Floyd influenced intro, we are treated to a track that sways back and forth between lighter and heavier passages with a decidedly Fates Warning like sound. Sea Of Tranquillity is one of three instrumental tracks on the album and it finishes things off quite nicely with its odyssey of piano and synthesizers.

This album was a really nice surprise. It's been a while since such a great conceptual, sci-fi based progressive rock album has captured my attention so vividly. It's deep and complex but not overly so with lots of abstract changes and interludes and is a genuine pleasure to listen to. It's one of those albums that can put you in a certain mindset and can get lost in for a while. Solid and strong vocals, a great sound and very professional sounding, it's obvious that this band is made up of seasoned veterans after delivering such a strong debut album. Elements of bands like Spock's Beard and Shadow Gallery can also be found with the music of Heart Of Sun. There is very little on this album that hasn't been heard or done before but when it's all put together in such a solid conceptual format, you get one of my top surprises of 2007.