CONTAGION

Arena's second amazing concept, Contagion is at its best when you add in the two additional LPs, Contagious and Contagium. It then becomes a 90+ minute monster, bringing it alongside the Lamb and Subterranea. There is so much variety and drama present here: Arena are perhaps the future of Neo prog; driving, powerful, emotive music. In songs like Witch hunt, Spectre at the feast, March of time, and Cutting the cards, Sowden's dramatic vocal dilevery gives this album its colour, alongside Nolan's versatile keyboard atmospheres. The whole thing sounds very modern, and not backwards looking or nostalgic in any way. 90 minutes of pure enjoyment.