Band:	Invisigoth
Album:	Narcotica
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	2008
A review by:	Bas

01. Dark Highway I: Transmission
02. Dark Highway II: Before First Light
03. Shine On
04. Scars And Dust
05. Pornocopia
06. Narcotica
07. A Beautiful Disaster
08. Dark Highway III: New Rome
09. Dark Highway IV: Take The Blood

Narcotica is one of the most interesting albums that I've heard since some time. Here we have a band that seems to know no taboos in mixing different types of music, and the result is something which is worth hearing. It's fair to say that every song sounds different on this release, yet all of them fit into the same picture.

Some of the songs instantly provoke comparison to the legendary Faith No More, however with much more melodic and emotional vocal work. Next to that we also have a lot of jazz influences in some of the songs, but also some electronica, hard rock and classical music, even touches of oriental folk music are blended into the mix. Other songs however are very tranquil, "dark" and melodic and seem to have an air of surrealism covering the whole musical outfit. This applies especially to the four "Dark Highway" tracks. However while all of these different approaches inside the music of Invisigoth are rivaling each other, the foundation of the music always stays progressive rock.

Probably the closest way of describing the vocal section is to say that the singing sounds like an inbetween of Faith No More's Mike Patton and Dream Theater's James LaBrie. Sometimes leaning more towards one, sometimes more towards the other direction, depending on the song. Special credit should also go to the keyboard work, while this instrument is used only sparingly in the music as a whole it really shines in a few passage, for example the use of keyboard at the beginning of "Dark Highway III: New Rome" is superb.

In the end the relatively long playing time of Narcotica, clocking in at a couple of minutes over an hour, is completely justified. With the very diversity generated anew in every single song, and the frequent changes of soundscape the listener will always be kept wondering what's going to happen next. Although I was already positive about it at the very beginning, Narcotica has grown more and more on me with every new listen. This is definitely one of the more interesting albums of the year!

Favourite tracks: The energetic "Scars And Dust" and the other-wordly "A Beautiful Disaster".