CAUTION RADIATION AREA

After hearing Area's debut album I decided I wanted more, so I checked out their sophomore album, Caution Radiation Area. Obviously, one would expect a natural evolution in the band's sound, but the music on this album is incredibly bizarre throughout. This album is overall a tad more schizophrenic than the debut, and I found it to be quite enjoyable.

"Cometa Rossa" starts off calm enough but quickly turns frantic and sounds quite Mediterranean. Statos' vocals are exceptionally weird during the beautiful passage through the middle of the track, and after hearing this track I started to understand the Tarzan connection that people have made.

The sounds of abrasive static mark the beginning of "Zyg crescita zero" before it turns into avant jazz blasts with the occasional coherent backing bass. The wild guitar noodling on this track is very interesting to listen to, though hard to follow. Near the end, Stratos makes some vocal noises that sound like Mario in Super Mario 64 and I find it quite hilarious and goofy. This whole track is basically free-jazz-fusion.

"Brujo" is another wild track, starting off as a more subdued free jazz that sounds like it could've been taken from the beginning of an outtake from Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. This track is full of fantastic improvised noodling by all members on instruments, and Stratos belts out some ghostly and incoherent, probably wordless, phrases that really creep me out. Feelin' kinda Mike Patton in here.

The first four minutes of "Mirage" sound like a Stockhausen composition, but it eventually turns into pseudo-Davis jazz-fusion. More avant influences are present near the end and Stratos continues with the ghostly vocals that seem more of just another instrument than actual singing.

"Lobotomia" probably is a Stockhausen composition. Noisy electronic that don't really make up a song are what this track is all about. It sounds like a lullaby for evil robots, which is cool, and I like it.

After hearing this album and their debut, I've decided that Area is a jazz-fusion band with RPI influences. This music is highly eccentric, and this whole album is basically a jazzier and more electrified evolution of their previous album. In fact, I can't decide which one I like better. They both are incredible and highly recommended.