ARENA — Contagion (review)

ARENA — Contagion album cover Album · 2002 · Metal Related Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
Rob Sowden's second album as lead singer of Arena finds the band really hitting their stride again after the rather transitional Immortal. Incorporating a few metal influences in their music really helps the band diversify their sound, and the songwriting team of Mick Pointer, Clive Nolan, and John Mitchell have come up with some really strong material this time around.

Granted, there's places here and there where things get a bit samey or predictable, but on the whole it there aren't enough to completely derail the album, and the band pack in just enough surprises to make it worth picking up this one if you already have and are enthusiastic about their earlier albums.

On the whole, in fact, I'd say it's more or less on a par with Pride, Songs From the Lion's Cage and The Visitor, and a big step up from Immortal. I particularly recommend the Contagion Max edition, which restores the missing songs which had been collected on various EPs to their proper part in the sequence. Perhaps its biggest weakness is that this prog metal-adjacent style isn't necessarily what Rob Sowden's voice lends itself to, and the fact that in its original configuration the album risks becoming a bit samey; the more varied material on the EPs, restored to their proper place in the running order, makes the journey a touch more varied.
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