IMMORTAL?

"Immortal?" is harder than any of ARENA's previous material. While "The Visitor" triggered just about every emotion on the human/musical scale, "Immortal?" seems to stir things up more at gut level.

From the opening track with its sounds of buzzing flies, binary drumbeat and raspy whisperings, you know you're in for something wicked. Next comes a delicate piece "Waiting for the Flood", followed by "The Butterfly Man" that opens with eerie piano notes, something like what you'd hear at the start of horror flicks. Although its melody is simple, the overall effect is quite convincing. "Ghost in the Firewall" is another typical spooky, bone-chilling ARENA number with all-round, made-to-measure arrangements. It is followed by the amazing "Climbing the Net" - I keep imagining this song as a prelude to "Ascension" from the "Contagion" album, as if "Ascension" were its logical follow-up.

The pièce de résistance, however, the one which sums up the whole CD - and perhaps ARENA as a musical entity - is the epic "Moviedrome". This one shows the band at their most creative. It's a veritable roller-coaster of explosive musical themes, mood swings and tempo changes. The music is so convincing and true to the theme, it's enough to make Alvin Toffler wish the guys had been around to put his novel 'Future Shock' to music. After such a highly charged number, the album rightfully closes with "Friday's Dream", a most moving yet powerful ballad guaranteed to melt your little progger's heart (I listen to the opening notes and imagine all the Bics lighting up on concert night).

"Immortal?" I wish I were, just so I could hear this type of music forever...