Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Arena
Label: Verglas Records
Release: 2018
Running time: 56:01
Rating: 5/5
England’s neo-prog rock champions Arena are back with a new album. »Double Vision« is the conceptual follow-up to the classic »The Visitor« (1998), which came out twenty years ago and includes a song of the same name. There are quite a few nods to Arena’s past on the record. According to Arena keyboardist and co-founder Clive Nolan, the concept of »Double Vision« was inspired by ‘Collected Ghost Stories’ by the English author M.R. James. The dark atmosphere and lyrics about ghosts, the afterlife and a mysterious, demonic visitor fit right in with Arena’s long-standing tradition and their reputation as the darkest neo-prog rock band around. Led by founding members and main songwriters Nolan and drum maestro Mick Pointer, the band don’t disappoint this time either. What’s more, they’ve once again created a masterpiece that may well be the best achievement of this incarnation of the cult neo-prog outfit.
»Zhivago Wolf«, which has nothing to do with Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago, is an epic, dark opener with a tense vibe in classic Arena style; metallized guitar passages, dramatic synth textures, decisive drum fills, fiery bass lines and a powerful vocal performance are the main strengths of this excellent opening track. »The Mirror Lies«, with its melodic, uplifting chorus, features an almost iconoclastic Arena arrangement of the kind typical of their most representative work. In its atmospheric pulse it’s slightly reminiscent of some of the tracks on »Contagion« (2003). Singer Paul Manzi, who first had to spend quite a few years shaking off the long shadow of his predecessor Rob Sowden, probably still the most beloved vocalist in Arena’s history, has now definitively become a key factor in turning Nolan’s complex lyrics and the songwriting visions of Clive, John and Mick into tense sonic drama. His voice isn’t all that different from his predecessor’s, and at the same time you can easily imagine him in an Iron Maiden tribute band, while he blends perfectly into Arena’s sound, which often sits somewhere between symphonic prog rock and prog metal.
»Scars« has a melancholic, nostalgic chorus that’s slightly reminiscent of the multi-part Arena classic »Crying For Help«, plus an epic guitar solo courtesy of virtuoso John Mitchell, who besides his work with Arena is busy with a bunch of other bands, led by It Bites, and side projects. »Paradise of Thieves« has a hefty riff and a clever build-up of tension. Over all these years Arena have become true specialists at crafting that. Once again a melodic, melancholic chorus takes center stage, one that gives this creation the potential to become an instant Arena classic. »Red Eyes«, one of the darkest »Double Vision« tracks, with top-notch atmospheric drama, features a mighty organ arrangement and furious guitar passages, followed by a surprising turn into an atmospherically bright section with a triumphant chorus. An unusual use of the vocoder in the middle section gives way to a transition into a victorious section with layered guitar and keyboard harmonies, while the clever ending with its Mellotron waves is one of the best in Arena’s history so far.
The acoustic-leaning ballad »Poisoned« is something of a surprise, since Arena haven’t made many ballads so far, but mostly thanks to Manzi’s excellent vocal performance it turns out great. The epic finale of »Double Vision« is the 22-minute epic masterpiece »The Legend of Elijah Shade«, which has taken over from the »Immortal?« (2000) classic »Moviedrome« as the longest track in Arena’s history so far. Even though the conceptual starting points aren’t entirely clear, you can make out that the sinister Elijah Shade, depicted in all his horror on the album cover, is one of the names for the demonic visitor and tempter who, in the intermediate role of devil and death, already appeared on »The Visitor«. Nolan has always loved playing with figures from the mythology of ancient peoples, Victorian themes, ghosts, and mysterious, dark characters and forces that test humanity’s moral conscience. This time he’s put an incarnation of ultimate evil in the lyrics, one that demands a human soul in exchange for fulfilling our deepest longings. One of the darkest, Victorian-flavored adventures in the Arena saga opens with ominous, demonic sounds, and the opening section could easily serve as the soundtrack to some horror movie. It’s followed by a shift into a fiery section played with exceptional passion, while the complex instrumental sections in between crank up the dark drama and the overall atmospheric intensity even further. Longtime fans will definitely pick up on some influences from Arena’s past, even from their early period, in certain sections and in the interplay of dramatic symphonic arrangements and vivid harmonies. Another curiosity of this monumental epic, which ends in an utterly sinister way, is that the mighty chorus only kicks in shortly before the halfway point.
Arena always take all the time they need on every new studio project so that success is practically guaranteed, and with »Double Vision« they’ve pulled off a dark masterpiece of epic proportions that carries on their enviable tradition of atmospherically intense albums. Above all thanks to the closing dark odyssey about Elijah Shade, a character you definitely wouldn’t want to run into, it earns the title of Arena’s most exciting achievement of the Manzi era. After a long time, the same Arena lineup, with the no-longer-so-new bassist Kylan Amos, has managed to stay together for more than one album, and let’s hope it stays that way for at least a few more years. We’ll probably have to wait quite a few years again for the next Arena studio album, but the wait will surely be much easier with »Double Vision«, which will have longtime fans hooked in an instant.
Lineup
Paul Manzi – vocals
John Mitchell – guitar, backing vocals
Clive Nolan – keyboards, backing vocals
Kylan Amos – bass guitar
Mick Pointer – drums
Production
Clive Nolan
Tracklist
1. Zhivago Wolf (4:48)
2. The Mirror Lies (6:58)
3. Scars (5:17)
4. Paradise Of Thieves (5:10)
5. Red Eyes (6:41)
6. Poisoned (4:28)
7. The Legend Of Elijah Shade (22:39)
