ALCOHOLOCAUST

Neither the band's name nor the album's title will pass Microsoft Word's spell-checker without leaving a red mark on the underbelly of its text. Still, I find their naming-scheme to be pretty cool. Similarly, their music was foreign to these ears, but equally en vogue to the progressive listener.

Their style is not the easiest to explain. They integrate classical sounds from synthesizers with a rapping technique that integrates Nu-Metal.

Thematically, I'd say they were Pain of Salvation mixed with Rob Zombie and Rammstein. Artistically, the static-electric crystal-ball that's on fire on the cover provides an appropriate visualization to their methodically-chaotic and angst-driven expressions. While the bound and smoldering hands on the back-side of the jewel case take the torture a step too far, I cannot deny the fact that they truly do get the point across.

As for their songs, "Ancient" represents their modus operandi best, but it's not entirely tame; yet, it's domesticated enough for the radio. I would claim that their remaining outbursts are crazy, but they demonstrate a certain degree of common sense and judgment. At this principle level of sanity, any spin doctor would have all the justification he or she needs in order to sign a release - as long as the stressful-molestations in "Poison Drip" were concealed.

Whatever track you try, you're in for a real song-induced trip complements of Alcholocaust's amazingly-diverse liquor cabinet.

By the way, the entire inebriated works was done by a man name Viggo Domino who provides the vocals and a talented instrumental artist that goes strictly by the namesake Cage. As this experimental duo suggests, don't hesitate to lay your hands on this lush compilation. In do so; just be careful not to pickle your liver.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What was that? I Love it! It's different from any Neo-Prog band I ever listened to! American duo INVISIGOTH present their first official CD; you see its title, "Alcoholocaust", is a compound word as well. The press kit, while shedding no light on the outfit's history or the musicians' bios either, offers their Weltanschauung instead, specifically mentioning that both of them are keen on esoteric philosophy and musical experimentation - especially through composition and chemistry. It seems the guys, who hide their real names under the pseudonyms of Cage and Viggo Domino, both consider the world we live in to be an illusion, which is called Maya in Sanskrit and is one of the fundamental aspects of both Hinduism and Buddhism.

Whether they prefer to work being drunk or corpulent:-), these men are indeed kind of musical alchemists who, while being guided by the legacy of both Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, could make an album whose sound is often not only fresh, but also marked with distinct signs of innovation. Besides, some of the nine songs present (no instrumentals here) are beyond comparison, though of course, this remark does not concern the duo's rendering of No Quarter, which concludes the CD. Take note, I didn't say cover: Viggo Domino could have without any exertion imitated Robert Plant, but he didn't. One of the most ingenious chameleon singers I've ever heard, the possessor of a highly flexible voice, he embraces no less than three octaves, very frequently changing his tone (within each of the songs!), but never resembles anyone else. I would have easily believed that several different vocalists took part in this recording if I hadn't known the real state of affairs. All in all, it's in many ways thanks to Viggo's efforts that almost all of the tracks here have at once a very original and diverse sound, while the first three, Strip Search, Ancient and Talitha Cumi, are all basically relatively simple. Unlike any of the other cuts, Ancient is completely free of hard fabrics and is also the only one of the outfit's creations that arouses distinct associations - again with Led Zeppelin. But then how beautiful it is, with its spicy eastern aroma, equally striking in its use of acoustic and electric instruments, especially when the string pads come to the fore. Contrary to Ancient, the slow-paced opening number, Strip Search, is heavy almost throughout, representing nothing other than symphonic Doom Metal which however appears to be strongly modified, due to the singularity of the piece's vocal palette. One way or another, the first two tracks both turn out to be in a way crucial to the album's overall sound, as all the subsequent ones combine symphonic and hard textures, most often still in the presence of oriental tunes and lush string arrangements as well, and even if one of those, The Everlasting, is poor in heavy guitar riffs, the music retains a dark gothic aura throughout it. Talitha Cumi follows the first two tracks, revealing a perfectly balanced blend of all the said substances. However, the music only starts to become diverse on all levels beginning with the fourth track, so it is the remaining six songs that form the progressive nucleus of this CD, all frequently shifting in style, theme, and pace all alike. Serpentine and Poison Drip both for the most part consist of intense arrangements, suggesting genuinely progressive Doom Metal, and while a symphonic element is still here, holding up its position almost throughout each, the quantity of art-rock-like moves is relatively small. As hinted above, The Everlasting brings to mind the idea of a doom-metal take on Art-Rock or rather Doom Metal embodied in atmospheric Symphonic Progressive. Meantime, the number of overdubbed vocals continues growing, the vim of a virtual choir reaching its apogee on the last two of the duo's own compositions, My Absinthe Lover and Soft Asylum. Both these sound very much like Rock Opera overall, besides which the recording's two primary genre ingredients are enriched here with elements of Classical music. Excellent.

It is so far rather early to make up a conclusion whether it's a positive or negative tendency that the lion's share of contemporary prog-rock production pertains to debut albums, their weight increasing constantly. It is no surprise that I sincerely enjoy this creation. Highly recommended to those who share my opinion on the topic. For me it's a STRONG 4 maybe 4.5 stars!