ARENA — Immortal? (review)

ARENA — Immortal? album cover Album · 2000 · Non-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
On the whole, Immortal is a fairly significant album in the Arena discography. With Rob Sowden joining on vocals, the band had a lineup which would remain stable for their next few albums, and with his extensive songwriting contributions this one John Mitchell demonstrated that in the short space of time since he had joined the band for The Visitor he had become a central member of the group - effectively becoming a third co-leader of the band alongside Clive Nolan and Mick Pointer.

I feel like it suffers a little from coming in between major conceptual works like The Visitor and Contagion; next to the other two, it risks feeling a little lightweight. On the other hand, as time has gone by it's grown on me, with a sort of cinematic soundtrack edge to the material creeping in (particularly, and aptly, on Moviedrome) that makes it sound almost like the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist.

The metallic edge which would come to the fore on Contagion hasn't yet fully developed here, but there's a few hints to it, and as such Immortal? is also notable as the point where the band's original more purist neo-prog sound reached a natural conclusion.
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