Veritas

In 2010, Invertigo made their debut in the contemporary Progressive Rock scene with quot;Next Stop Vertigoquot;, an album loved by fans and critics alike. Eclipsed Magazine (Germany) already expected a lot of things to come from this five-piece from North Rhine-Westphalia. After fulfilling the promise with a series of blasting live performances - for example supporting prog icon Fish or at the prestigious Summer's End Festival (UK) - they now release the 2nd album, quot;Veritasquot;. And to cut a long story short: All the high expectations have been met. Big time! quot;Veritasquot;, an album title heavy with meaning: The Truth, nothing but the truth - that's what Invertigo seem to be interested in this time. Smells like a concept album, doesn't it?. quot;'Veritas' is not a concept album in the usual meaningquot;, says singer Sebastian Brennert. quot;At least we do not tell a continuous story. However, all the songs are about the topic of truth and deception, illusion and reality. Romantically transfigured childhood memories, dreams, delusions, schizophrenia. All these themes run through the songs like a thread. Which we find is very attractive, because we managed to make it so musically diverse.quot; Indeed. While the six songs on quot;Next Stop Vertigoquot; predominantly served the classic and neo-prog genres, Invertigo look at more distant stylistic horizons on quot;Veritasquot;. And that works well. After a few notes on the piano, quot;Darknessquot; sets in with a guitar-dominated 7/4-part, and we know where we're heading: Guitarist Jacques Moch likes it the 'heavy way' and the two-headed rhythm machine, consisting of Carsten Dannert (Drums) and Matthias Hommel (Bass), support him with their sophisticated, crunchy groove foundation. Friends of riff-orientated, all the while modern-melodic Prog-Rock, will be in for real treat with quot;Veritasquot;; listening to songs like quot;Lullabyquot; - where nomen is not omen - or the fourteen minutes of driving and stirring action of quot;Suspicionquot;, you'll go, 'Porcupine Tree!', you'll go, 'Muse!'. And yet Invertigo maintain their own style, which they established with their great, all ingrediants of classic prog rock containing compositions on quot;Next Stop Vertigoquot;, like quot;Specialquot; or quot;The Nightquot;. All new songs still feature these elements in strategical important places. Elegiac solo parts, tenderly composed piano and synth parts, smart interaction of all instruments. The use of the guitar solo in quot;Wavesquot; alone will bring tears of joy into the eyes of those who adore Marillion or Pink Floyd. Despite all those subtle compositions and arrangements, Invertigo care not to take progressive rock music too serious, which is proven by quot;Dr. Hoquot;, the musically most easy going track on the album. Keyboard player Michael Kuchenbecker: quot;Many bands feel the need to write about all the important things in life, the world and the universe itself. We do feel the same way! It's about time common male baldness and the sometimes unscrupulous methods the cosmetics industry are mentioned in a prog song, one that is influenced by barbershop and glam rock.quot; Thus, quot;Dr. Hoquot; fits perfectly into the quot;Veritasquot; concept. The song cycle ends with the polyrhythmic instrumental quot;Truthquot;, where contemporaries of politics and religion give us their point of view on this topic. But why was the epic quot;Memoirs of a Mayflyquot;, clocking in at 22 minutes, labelled as 'bonus track'? quot;Two simple reasonsquot;, Sebastian Brennert explains. quot;First, this mammoth of a song - which tells the story of a mayfly almost in real-time - o