A dramatic Italian rock band readily bearing comparison to an unholy collision of Uriah Heep and Van der Graaf Generator, Alphataurus emerged from the city of Milan during 1971 and released their self-titled debut album the following year, on their own Magma label. Highly prized by European prog aficionados, Alphataurus is as remarkable for its sleeve -- an antiwar-themed triple gatefold -- as for its contents, a dramatic soundscape comprised of just five songs but a multitude of moods and textures. Work on a second Alphataurus album commenced later in the year, but the sessions were doomed to failure. Nothing more than a set of instrumental demos was completed before the band broke up; the tapes subsequently (1993) appeared as Dietro l'Uragano, but are of interest to completists only. The band resumed activity in 2010. ~ Dave Thompson