Title:The Unquiet Sky
Artiste: Arena
Year 2015
Nationality: British
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rank: High Priest
8
Expectations: Although I did like 2011's
The Seventh Degree of Separation, it kind of only got working for me near the end, although I freely admit I only listened to it the once, so maybe if I gave it a few more listens? Thing is, for me, Arena albums usually don't require more than one listen to impress me, so I have mixed feelings about this new one, their eighth so far.
1. The demon strikes: Hmm. Rather long instrumental opening, almost like the overture to a movie or something, then the guitar crashes in and Paul Manzi's vocals are heard for the second time, he being the new vocalist since 2011. A good track but I feel there's something missing. Seemed to end a little too suddenly.
2. How did it come to this?: Sounds like the first ballad. Lovely cello, great synthwork and as ever Mitchell rules on the expressive guitar. A bit more like the Arena I know.
3. The Bishop of Lufford: An odd title indeed, though Arena are kind of known for their unorthodox subject matter. What's it about? ****ed if I know. Sounds good though. Got a lot of energy in it, and Clive's still got it on the keys. Again though, way too abrupt ending.
4. Oblivious to the night: I like the combination of piano and typewriter keys opening this – another ballad? Vocal is very good on this, like the sort of rolling guitar, but it's really short at less than three minutes and, given that so much time is spent on the piano/typewriter thing at the start, a little of a waste.
5. No chance encounter: Brings me back to albums like
Contagion and
Immortal?, with the opera singer effect from “Opera fantastique” off
Pepper's Ghost. The most classic Arena song I've heard on the album so far. Gives Manzi a chance to really exercise his lungs.
6. Markings on a parchment: Another short one, though this time I believe it may be an instrumental. Yep. Not bad at all really. A little sparse perhaps. Well, mostly instrumental: some backwards masking or some **** in there too. Not sure why; doesn't really work for me. The choir at the end is good. Again too short though.
7. The unquiet sky: Love the
pizzicato strings at the beginning. Okay, this is the first song so far that has really impressed me the way the old Arena did. Love this. Superb piano, powerful guitar, a great melody.
8. What happened before: Back to
Contagion style with a lovely rippling piano, and I'm getting used to Manzi's vocal, which is not really that much different to the departed Rob Sowden's.
9. Time runs out: A good powerful rocker, again reminiscent of the
Contagion era.
10. Returning the curse: I have to be honest, the feeling I keep getting from this album time after time is
Contagion, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, that album was over ten years ago...
11. Unexpected dawn: Opening with basically the theme from “Breathe” from
Dark Side of the Moon is not the greatest move: it's so well known that there's no way you can believe they wrote this part of the music themselves. A decent ballad though. Would be a lot better if it didn't sound so much like a Floyd track from the seventies.
12. Traveller beware: Good decent strong closer. I like the way they pull the title of the album into it, even though there is a separate title track.
Final result: Again, it is only the first listen to an album by a band I really love, and it probably will grow on me with repeated listenings, but for now, first time out of the gate, though I'm a little more impressed with it than the previous album I'm still not floored. Definitely great, but is it excellent? Time, I guess, will have to tell. For now:
Rating: 