INMOTION

InVertigo was formed in 2006 and began touring almost right away, spreading their Neo-prog music through Germany, which was influenced by prog giants such as Genesis and Yes. Starting out as a quintet, the band released their debut album in 2010 and their 2nd album in 2012. Finally, 7 years later, in November of 2019, they released their 3rd album called "InMotion", still playing as a quintet made up of Sebastian Brennert (Piano, vocals), Michael Kuchenbecker (keyboards), Kolja Malezki (guitar), Matthias Hommel (bass), and Carsten Dannert (drums). The album is made up of 6 tracks and has a total run-time of 43 minutes and is available on CD and Bandcamp.

The album starts with the sounds of squeakies on "Interrompu" (7:04), but moves into a nice, catchy sound when the band kicks in, with piano leading the way at first, later giving way for the guitar to lead the melody and improvisation for a while. Between solos, the music develops nicely with a boiling bass line, and a nice flowing style. Vocals begin sometime in the 2nd minute, and the sound of a well-developed neo-prog sound becomes apparent. The music is easy enough to listen to, but still has plenty of progressive sensibilities to make it very engrossing for the prog fan. As with the best neo-prog bands, there is a great balance between all of the instruments. There is an excellent instrumental section further in that features the organ and guitar playing together, echoing each other. Things develop into a great guitar solo that builds the tension bringing the vocals back on a real rousing conclusion. We're off to a good start.

"Listen to the Smell of the Pretty Picture" (10:27) starts surprisingly serene with a simple flute effect on the synth. It's not long for the music to develop into a full band sound again, this time with a build up spurred on mostly by the guitar. Again, vocals begin after 2 minutes. The music and lyrics are mostly quite positive and bright sounding, somewhat similar to Spock's Beard style of neo-prog. It's a smooth sound, but very connected and tight, music flowing seamlessly between synths and guitar. The music has it's heavier sections, but they remain restrained so that the music is quite accessible, but the song structure doesn't follow any typical formulas. Later, there is an acapella section that features additional guest vocalists (who appear in various sections in the album) Julia Gorzelanczyk and Ina Merz. "Severn Speaking" (4:41) starts off with thumping drum and a voice sample from a Severn Suzuki speech. Synth and guitar call in the vocals with lyrics about Severn's impact and what have you done about it. After a few verses, there is an instrumental break and vocal samples continue while the music plays. The track is a more traditional song style and a third verse follows, but this time allowing pauses between lines to allow for more vocal snippets from her speeches.

"Wasting Time" (8:53) continues with the smooth neo-prog sound, but this time things are a bit darker, and there is some good tension buildup in various sections. The music tends to get more tense as the track continues and the vocals become more imploring. There are also some sections that suddenly break from the tension, usually in the chorus sections, but the music always returns to the dark tension that is generated by the organ and guitar. At 6 minutes, things get softer and a bit more pensive, but it all works up to another melodic guitar solo. I really like the melody in the chorus and how the music works up to it, and then returns to the tense feeling again. Excellent track.

Next is "Life Part I (random)" (7:40), and the music immediately borrows from the main theme of Edvard Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16", even though it is all played and improvised upon by all of the instruments. The theme is unmistakeable though, not hidden, but very evident. After this theme is played around with for a few minutes, the vocals come in with a message about the unpredictable future, but remaining very positive sounding. When the instruments take over again, the concerto's themes are used some more, but this time in a very improvised fashion with both synths and guitars taking turns at solos. After another verse, the beat becomes quite solid and heavy, and a synth solo takes off followed by a guitar solo. The music remains quite positive sounding. When the vocals return again, the melody has changed, and the lyrics are a bit corny as they tend to be about Googling the meaning of life. It ends with vocal harmonies and piano, and then it moves into "Life Part II (metaphors)" (6:22). There is a sort-of funky riff in the synths as the guitar plays. A new vocal melody emerges, based off of a more straightforward beat this time. The music ends early, and after a short pause, there is a short acoustic coda that ends the album.

The music is a little too bright for my own personal tastes as I usually like a darker, noisier and more complex style, but, pushing that aside, the album isn't too bad. It all remains quite accessible, yet progressive enough to be interesting. The music is definitely neo-prog, and the messages are usually quite positive. There might also be too many clichés throughout the lyrics, but at least the melodies are interesting enough. It's not really my style of music, but I can't deny that the music is well produced and composed and that the band is quite talented. If that sounds like something that you would be interested in, and you like neo-prog, then you will probably agree that this album is a good 4 star album.

Apparently the first ever album released by Progressive Promotion Records back in 2010 was the debut by a little- known part-time band called Invertigo. The idea was to try out different approaches and learn from mistakes, but instead the album was a success and led to the second album, 'Veritas', just a few years later. However, there followed a lengthy gap which has now only just been rectified by the release of the third album 'InMotion', which has been mastered by Martin Schnella (Flaming Row, Seven Steps To The Green Door etc.). Sebastian Brennert (piano, vocals), Michael Kuchenbecker (keyboards), Matthias Hommel (bass) and Carsten Dannert (drums) are all back from the last release, but guitarist Jacques Moch has been replaced by Kolja Malezki.

The result is solid neo prog, with some nice chunky guitars here and there, although never too over the top. The use of piano as well as keyboards is welcome, especially when it is used beneath some chunky riffs as it adds a very different tenor and feel to the album. They are not afraid to mix and match ideas, so a song can start with intricate classical guitars, while on another we have a youngster telling us what we should be doing with the environment. The production is balanced and very clean indeed, which is exactly what I would expect with Schnella being involved, and each musical line is clear and distinct. Just six songs, and a total playing length of 43 minutes, this is an enjoyable album without ever really breaking new ground. Pleasant without being groundbreaking, let us hope it isn't so long until the next one.