CONTAGION MAX

Contagion (2002) is an album I listened to while bringing newspaper as a fourteen year old kid, ten years ago. I've always had a weakspot for almost all songs on the album and I've never found a neo-prog album that was remotely as good as this one. It is just so mysterious and the combination of abstract and theatrical sounds never worked better. Futhermore, I find the vocals of Rob Sowden perfectly fitting on this album and I'd wish he'd still be around recording music with the band - albeit his performance on stage is not really 'for the poeple' to put it mildly.

This 2014 release is 2cd album with the tracks from the ep's reintegrated in the album, and as a result the overall concept of the album is enhanced and a storyline is said to appear. To be honest with you, I think all the additional tracks are of a lesser quality, with 'Vanishing Act' as an exception, and the overall album atmosphere is disrupted by the new songs that tend to have a more eighties prog sound. If I would have changed the original Contagion album, I would have rather withdrawn a few track like the perhaps misplaced electronic 'Riding the Tide'.

This is a release the band has made because it was asked to do so by the fans - who of course will find this album very rewarding. I myself will keep to the original, one of my favorites of alltime. Three stars for this release, though keep in mind that is because of my preference for the 2002 Contagion release.

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