CONTAGION

Well, this is my first introduction to the Neo Progressive sub-genre. My uncle introduced me to it, with this fantastic album. What an introduction !! Before this, the only stuff I heard from Arena was "The Butterfly Man" (which is not on this disc), from a progressive sampler of Big Bear Records that my father was given in a Steve Hackett concert, the last time he came to Argentina. The first time I put "Contagion" on my CD player, I was surprised by the number of songs: woah, 16 songs !! And: 58:44 minutes of total time. So I coldn't predict how the record would be. I had a lot of expectations before hear this, specially by the number of songs. Like most of 'new' prog rock bands, Arena are widely influenced by 70s british prog rock bands, specially Yes and Genesis, but, with an unique style, in some way heavier than what I expected, but symphonic and very catchy; 16 catchy prog rock songs, one by one. Another thing I liked a lot about this CD was the variety of climax it has, I mean, the fact that the record has so many songs means (in prog rock) all the different climax a song can have: sadness, happinnes, depression, 'rocker feeling', etc ... Every song is connected, maybe that's what makes the album to be conceptual (remember I talk spanish and don't understand so much the lyrics, really...). They even released two Eps used as an extension of the album, called "Contagious" and "Contagium", which I'll have to hear soon. The longest track is "Spectre At The Feast" (5:34). All the songs are excellent played, with top- notch production and catchy vocal melodies. The siger, Rob Snowden, sometime reminds me of Russel Allen (Symphony X), so that means he sings pretty well. The musicianship is very good. Nolan and Mitchell provide well done solos.

I won't do a description song by song, it'll take a very long time, so I'll talk about the remarkable pieces.

The first track "Witch Hunt", surprised me a lot, "heavy guitars?", I asked myself; but the minority of the album are heavy guitars. The riff (almost all the song is a big riff), is simple, heavy but very effective. One of the catchiest melodies of the record are here "Exile! You show no mercy, you're living in a mindless state", nice, as the guitar solo too. Good opener.

The short piano-based "An Angel Falls", is used like an intro to the sixth song, "Never Ending Night", with has one of the best solos of the album.

"Paited Man" is another highlight, with fresh keyboards, specially on the part "Why, With poison so strong in our hearts"...... beautiful. And again, very catchy melodies, like the solos too.

The follower is the instrumental "(This Way) Madness Lies", that's basically an excellent guitar solo. On this track Mitchell goes veeery hiiiigh with the notes. Also nice bass work.

"Spectre At The Feast" is the longest song of "Contagion", that bagins with hipnotic keyboards, and more romantic (?) I think: "Hey... don't fall asleep, don't close your eyes and drift away to some foreign land", wich is used like a first chorus. Then, it changes when the drums enter, and the other delicious chorus: "This brave new world has fallen and decayed, are there no heroes, just men with feet of clay?". Excellent song.

The second instrumental, "On The Box", is more heavy of what was before and has a rare guitar sound I love. Yeah, it would sound crazy, but that distortion reminds me of Megadeth. It's not trashier distortion, it's something different, you have to hear this !! The solo puts is evidence again that Mitchell is a very good guitarist.

The depression moment comes with "The City Of Lanterns". Veery depressing song, just to hear in the night, or in a raining afternoon. When I heard this, I asked myself: "Is Mikael Akerfeldt singing here ?", no, but sounds very close to his voice.

The depression moment contrasts with the third and last instrumental, "Riding The Tide", it's the whole band playing, but the keyboards are the STAR on this song, passing through different transitions and solos, and one of the best melodies I've ever heard are here. Very symphonic. Clive Nolan, what a keyboardist !!

Well, that are basically the best songs, in my opinion. Something bad is that the album should finish with "Riding The Tide" ... really I do not care so much for the last 3 tracks.

So, overall, this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection, recommendable to any prog rock fan, because this is very accesible. Arena, keep on rocking !!

Rating: 4.1/5