INVISIGOTH

On this second album from the group, multi-instrumentalist Cage offers up a wide smorgasboard of sounds for vocalist Viggo Domino to apply his vocal prowess too. Cage's ability to work in a wide range of influences and ideas is certainly impressive, but it does mean that the album tends to come across as a bit unapproachable - and, worse, a bit anonymous. I was left without any strong sense of what the Invisigoth sound actually is beyond a chaotic mashup of prog and alternative rock tropes dipped into and out of without much rhyme or reason. Technically clever, and so some will find it interesting on that level, but not satisfying on a deeper level.

Following on from 2007's 'Alcoholocaust', it is hard to believe that this 2009 release is the work of just two guys, with Cage providing all the music and Viggo Domino all the vocals. When I first started listening to the album I thought I had it pegged at Steely Dan style Seventies rock, but it didn't take long for those thoughts to be blown away. Musically this is all over the place, from Gabriel and Porcupine Tree through Styx and Floyd, Flower Kings, It Bites and many others. It is strange, yet easy to listen to: it is complex and chaotic, a ramshackle mess of music that somehow works incredibly well. The very first time I played this I fell in love with it, as there are so many changes of styles that it just shouldn't work, shouldn't gel, but somehow it does, and I have no idea how that can happen.

Just sit back, turn it on, and enjoy the ride, just don't have any preconceived ideas before you do so. They even bring in middle eastern elements when they feel the time is right! In some ways, it feels more like a project than a band, but it certainly never sounds like the work of just two people. There is light, there is passion, and they are pushing the boundaries and refusing to accept they must stay inside the lines, and all power to them for doing that. An incredibly solid album, and one I enjoyed immensely.

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!

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.

While loads of musicianship is demonstrated in this album, it is obvious that Invisigoth's creature has been cooked up in a lab; because there are numerous - daresay diverse - influences burned into its DNA. While the results are melodic, it's often pretty scary to behold. It's harder to say if it's closer to Frankenstein's monster or a Predalien. Regardless, it won't be an alienator to prospective fans on the fringe of progressive rock. Then again, people may fear getting mauled by this transmogrified chimera at first. In the end, the breed gets a bad wrap as it's both provocative and affable when given a chance.

To name a few of its weird vices and varied traits: Planet P Project, Led Zeppelin, and Little Blue Crunchy Things are deeply-seated in its chromosomes.

"Dark Highway" is the coup de gras, because it has a Broadway musical stitched into its fuzzy fleece. It's comprised of "Transmission" followed by "Before First Flight". The multi- track composition doesn't conclude until the final two tracks with "New Rome" and "Take the Blood".

Even though its split personalities are set apart, it works cohesively with the rest of the album. Since the featured epic is foremost and also gives last rites, the advanced organism pretty much guarantees a good impression from its blockhead to its lightning bolt screws to its gangrene toes. I dissected it and tried out several permutations. To be honest, it's kind of like a Manglord. When his arms were ripped apart, they were easily reattached. The sticky figurine also plays well with the other pliable tracks.

In my not-so-humble opinion, the best song in the series is "A Beautiful Disaster". While unsurpassed, it still gave me a stiff neck due to the constant rubbernecking it compels you to do. The title track is another sociable oddball; quite deserving of such an addictive name. Likewise, something of a friendly and fetishistic nature shows up in "Pornucopia", too.

Back to the extensive featurette, Parts III & IV of "Dark Highway" pick up right where Part I & II left off -- regardless of the fact that these distinguishing parts are separated by mucho space. Frankly, it could have been an EP but the content in between the dual double doses doesn't dilute the sum of its parts. Actually, the extrapolated nucleus adds a lot. Strangely coincidental, the conclusion of "Dark Highway" has dialogue that sounds a lot like Health Ledger's insanely-serious Joker. Initially, it's grim. In due course, it'll put the most heinous grin on your face.

Though the output from this assembly line doesn't tie in with transforming robots, sword- wielding pirates, muscle heads or garbage pail kids, it's all intriguingly-clean fun. As a result, there is a very good chance that Invisigoth will incite that bratty kid in you to come out and play and throw your boring toy bands away -- for something like this that's far more fascinating and significantly less tame.

Interesting band this Invisigoth, not even remotely close to something like traditional neo prog but definitely prog, of a more modern sort that is. First impressions are they sound like The Mars Volta and even somewhat like Ayreon, both mainly in the vocal department. Musically and compositionwise this is multi influenced, sometimes middle eastern sounding (early in the second part of Dark Highway) , the next moment is suddenly more like RIO avant or jazzy, sometimes heavy with also slight hints to modern neo prog (if this at all exists).

Anyway, very hard to pigeon-hole but certainly worthwhile listening to and exploring if you want something completely different. Not 100% original and innovative maybe but still a breath of fresh air in my opinion. Another advantage is that music like this will keep growing on you because of the challenge due to complexity. Because of the large progressive content rather than my personal liking I will give it four stars.

This sophomore release from US duo Invisigoth is a chaotic trip into unique musical landscapes, and not an album it will be easy to get into.

The main reason for this being the structure of the songs, most of them jumping from style to style and segment to segment a multitude of times from start to finish; making it challenging to get a feel for the tunes as such. Dominating traits are layered synths, sometimes symphonic and sometimes cinematic in nature, careful use of guitars to add structure to the soundscape, a multitude of style changes as mentioned; going from prog metal to pop, and even funk and jazz are styles briefly visited. All songs are highly melodic at all times though, and several of them have one or more passages influenced by Eastern music going as a red thread through the album.

This is a chaotic release in many ways, and not a release that will have a mass appeal. Fans of modern experimental rock music, especially those that may also enjoy cinematic music and computer game music, are the ones I'd guess will find this one most appealing.