THE UNQUIET SKY

I Have been an Arena fan for quite some time now and it's so nice to hear and see this band really coming to the forefront of displaying so much quality both in sound and conceptual storytelling. I believe Arena have now become masters or superior tradesmen in creating music that has so much progressive might without having to have a song surpass an 8min marking. This, to me, is nothing short of remarkable.

From the moment" The Demon Strikes " hits my ears I am captivated in all that wonderful Arena flare and glory, both conceptually and musically. This is a track that has 5 massively different transitions with in 5:38min song span! I bring this point up because their have been many that have said and felt, Arena have lost their progressive edge. This I tell you isn't true. Not in the slightest. If one really listens to this album with his or her full attention I would hopefully think that one would grasp all the lovely sophistication and production arrangement Arena have put forth in, " The Unquiet Sky." Clive Nolan's sweeping keyboards and generated orchestrations alone should have any progressive music enthusiast chomping at the bit. John Mitchell's guitar still shines boldly and deeply emotional, similar to that of his approach in the "Peppers Ghost" album. New comer, Kylan Amos has a massively thick bass. some of the strongest low end I have heard on just about any Arena album, except Immortal? Amos's bass peddle work perfectly suits the album's overall conceptual theme. It's a strong and brooding sound that will vibrate you from here to kingdom come. Lastly, Mr. Mick Pointer's drums are still the same. A very straight forward style that isn't overly technical, but more of groove style that still pounds and hits your ears like a fright train. All the skills of each band member are accentuated beautifully throughout the entire "Unquiet Sky" album. A ton of progressive might with a good amount of accessible melody, which will surely hook you in.

Presently, I have a hard time picking a favourite or stand out track that would sit above the rest mostly because each song on the album flows so beautifully one after the other, but if I had to list some key highlights I feel, as mentioned earlier, "The Demon Strikes" because of its unbelievable transitions and gorgeous musicianship makes for a real gem of a tune. The track also shows vocalist, Paul Manzi really coming into his own and really, above all, fitting in with the band completely. Manzi is more natural sounding and you can really feel the sense of urgency in his voice. He has toppled and crushed his performance in his debut album "The Seventh Degree of Separation." Just listen to his voice command on "The Demon Strikes" and "time Is Running Out." The way he treats the main choruses in those 2 songs is above and beyond. Another track highlight is the ballad " How Did It Come To This? " Now I've heard a lot of great ballads in my time and this one is no exception. It is perfect. I get goosebumps every time I hear it. "How Did Come To This" is pure and utter sonic joy. The emotion put forth by each band member is off the charts and is enough to put just about any listener on their knees thanking the heavens that they got to treat their ears to such a blissful song.

The last major notable album Highlight would be " The Traveler Beware." Now this is a track that I like to call, A Micro epic. It has so much rocket sauce crammed into 7:39min. I absolutely love this track because I feel this is the song that best exemplifies what Arena are doing so well and where they have become the most innovative. "Traveller Beware embodies that Yin and Yang balance whereby Arena fuse old and new styles together to an extremely beautiful and calculating level. I hear wisps of the "Contagion" and "Peppers Ghost" albums combined tactfully with their new artful heavy rock style in the present. It's really a perfect blend. Arena are riding a pretty impressive creative tide right now. I've embraced it and I hope most listeners can as well.

Audio mixing and Production. Briefly, "The Unquiet Sky" from a sound engineering/sonic level definitely has quite a few legs up from that of the previous album " The Seventh Degree Of Separation." Even with the most modest sound equipment I could still hear just how frighteningly bright and loud the "Seventh Degree of Separation" was and is sound wise. Well, to be fair, it wasn't Metallica's: Death Magnetic loud, but I found every instrument on "The Seventh Degree" was pushed too far forward. Even the vocals were way too bright, and I'm not sure if this was done purposely to showcase the new arrival of Manzi's chops but you will notice how exceptionally louder he sounds on that album as opposed to the current, "The Unquiet Sky." I tip my Top Hat to Simon HanHart for doing a great job album mixing wise because everything musically is far more balanced including the vocals. Overall, sonically "The Unquiet Sky" is a better produced/engineered album than many other previous Arena albums. It's nice to have the "loudness" wars put to an armistice.

In conclusion, I couldn't have asked for a better Arena album output, especially for what they are trying to do by reinventing their overall sound, but still keeping that old trademark flare to balance out the band's overall character and image. My feelings towards "The Unquiet Sky", everything from the gorgeous cover art, the album's production, conceptual storyline and of course the music itself is surely that of a masterpiece. This is my most favored album of 2015 thus far. My ears couldn't be happier.

All 5's. All smiles.

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