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The reviews I’d seen about Invisigoth’s debut album, Alcoholocaust, all seemed to mention post-grunge, Soundgarden and the like, so I was more than a little surprised to be thrust more into a world of garden variety heavy symphonic progressive pop when I threw in the duo’s new album, Narcotica. Then again, “heavy symphonic progressive pop” hardly qualifies as garden variety, and upon further review, the emphasis must be placed on the word variety, as Invisigoth traverses many melodic paths, and subgenres of the progressive game, often within the confines of a single track.
 
I recently panned another band for having ADHD tendencies, not being able stick to a thought for more than a few moments at a time, and at face value, the same criticism can be applied to Invisigoth. The difference is that on, Narcotica, the changes take you through an array of interesting shifts, where you’re waiting to see what happens next, rather than dreading what lies around the corner.
 
The album is bookended by the four parts of the Dark Highway epic, two pieces to start, two pieces to close out the album. Together, the pieces add up to a near 40 minute opus. To say that the song is sprawling hardly gives it enough credit.  The first part sets up the disc with a chill, ambient atmosphere along the lines of "Air,” or “Zero 7” before revealing itself as a rock track. Part II reveals itself in fits and starts, opening with a sinuous middle Eastern rhythm, and devolving into a dramatic piano lounge hipster cool in its midsection before returning to a Middle East punctuated with turns into almost disco modes.
 
The latter half of the epic follow similarly twisted, unexpected paths. Part III, subtitled New Rome, carrens between Pink Floyd dominated sections, and moments where prog metal rules the roost. The closing segment, Take the Blood, drops things down a notch in terms of the heaviness of the piece. Pink Floyd elements are still there, but so do more typical symph-prog moment, more generally standard prog rock tropes.
 
In between the halves of the Dark Highway saga lie another boatload of assorted goodies. Scars and Dust, starts out in an ambient mode, but quickly turns into a harder rocking numbers, punctuated by Viggo Domino’s Doug Pinnick(King’s X) impression on vocals. The King’s X connection is furthered by the arrangement of the layered vocals later on the track, though that band hasn’t done anything quite so danceable in a while.
 
Pornocopia might be the most straight ahead progressive track on the album. There’s something brooding and epic about the way Domino’s vocals  play off the simple, yet intrusive keyboard melody that dominates the opening minutes. The quavery, processed guitars hint at Porcupine Tree influence, even as the keyboard runs lead into a funk-laden midsection.
 
The title track turns back to the Middle East for inspiration, with Domino turning on an almost didactic tone for his vocals. Cage’s music isn’t particularly heavy, but the arrangement is portentous, as if world events were on the line within the track. It’s probably my favorite of Narcotica’s 9 tracks.
 
Overall, Invisigoth present a variegated face that’s well-nigh impossible to categorize, so I won’t even try. Instead, let me sum up this review in this manner: I can’t wait to track down their previous disc, Alcoholocaust, to see what I missed the first time around.