DOUBLE VISION

Ninth overall studio album for Arena and third and final release with overall fourth vocalist Paul Manzi, 'Double Vision' came out in 2018 and has since been one of the better received modern neo-prog releases. This album definitely takes on and expands that creative sonic line running across the entire era of the band with Manzi as the lead vocalist - shorter, catchier songs that have a strong classic rock edge, whilst preserving the band's progressive pedigree. A fair presentation for a well-seasoned band full of talented musicians, most of which are also involved in several other projects in the realm of neo-progressive rock.

A solid album in its entirety, it is one of these records you can definitely appreciate for what it is, and what it is is a fine offering from a band that clearly has a recognizable sound and sticks to its established way of writing - we have the great leads of both Clive Nolan and John Mitchell, together with the on-point drum parts of Mick Pointer leading the way. As usual, Paul Manzi's singing is quite impressive, the warmth of his voice suits the music of Arena and is perfect for the spooky aesthetics of this 2018 album. At the same time, the cover art is a nausea-causing image of a double-eyed, double-mouthed red-eyed man that is generally difficult to look at. Kind of fits the music, especially the ominous tones, but by itself it is a really bad album cover. For what concerns the music, some great entries on here include the opener 'Zhivago Wolf' and the anthemic tracks 'Paradise of Thieves' and 'The Mirror Lies', while 'Scars' and 'Red Eyes' offer a glimpse of that furious early 2000s Arena sound, and the great closing epic 'The Legend of Elijah Shade', clocking in at 22 minutes. This is a fantastic composition that goes through several distinct parts, all of which are quite tasteful and ridden with the usual neo-prog suspense.

Different but to an extent similar to some preceding albums, the architecture of 'Double Vision' reminisces that of 2000's 'Immortal?'. This is a good album that takes its righteous spot as one of the very fine releases by the Surrey neo-prog masters. I would still go on to call it somewhat safe, keeping in mind that this is the band responsible for 'The Visitor' and 'Contagion', two tremendous releases.

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