Arabas in Aspic
Madness and Magic

I have received albums some Norwegian proggers lately, many from the label Karisma Records who usually give us great albums – this is one more of those albums. The band is Arabs in Aspic, inspired by the classics (obviously) and this is their sixth album called Madness and Magic. De debut arrived back in 2004, so they have been around for quite a while and this album is thematically centred around the digital age and how we are affected by it, how easily influenced we are by what we are exposed to on the web and how difficult is for us to influence proceedings ourselves. The theme is said to be open for the listener to interpret, so don’t take my word for it. The cover does seem to reflect something different from what I think of when dealing with this album, it is made by the same artists as their previous albums. So, it may be that the cover isn’t quite the best artwork for this record, but what about the record itself; is it some work of art?

Not really, it is derivative and not very original, not really progressive in the way I usually interpret the word. This kind of music was progressive and forward thinking in the seventies but these days it is more like complex rock music that seems more dated than fresh. You can think of bands like King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Kayak, Camel, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull and a whole host of other bands if you want a comparison. It sounds like something from the seventies, the only progressive thing is the modern sound and the lyrics about digital age. It is a strong production with good sound, the songs are also strongly composed and flow well together into one another forming a unity with a decent playing time.

Retro rock, these guys do copy what bands that once were progressive did back in the day. This is not progressive in the terms of forward thinking, radical, advanced or reformist as are some synonyms to the words progressive. You may think that advanced is describing Arabs in Aspic, but is it really? How advanced is it to take someone else’s stuff, tweak it a little and write different lyrics? But they do copy well, and they show some really nice tracks along the way, I enjoy the title track and Part two of Lullaby for Modern Kids, it has some great and enjoyable lyrics to a nice song. I noticed some reviewer I read took it literally and figured it was about a psycho killer, I think it is more in line with the digital era and some things that are popular there. The meaning isn’t always what it first appears, but then again, it is for everyone to make up the meaning of the theme.

Madness and Magic, contains trace amount of both madness and magic but more amounts of retro prog. It isn’t a very exciting album; it is well made and should work well with the fans of the style and perhaps with the retro fan in general. But it isn’t really that memorable and I doubt that there will be many who look back on this album and think about it as a game changer or a milestone of any kind. It is a good retro progger but not a standout album, it will probably not disappoint.

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