021: “The Afterman: Descension” by Coheed & Cambria

So it has been completed. The epic double album New York’s prog rockers have been hyping up has now been officially finished. “The Afterman: Descension” hit stores February 5, 2013 and does everything but fail to live up to the hype that its been getting. Since Coheed albums are difficult to really review as a whole I’ll do a track by track like I did with “Ascension”.

1. Pretelethal – An opener track in the vein of 2007’s “The Reaping”. It comes as a full band song, beginning with serene acoustic guitars and Claudio’s ghostly falsetto vocals. It really accentuates the pain Sirius Amory is feeling at this point in the story and really shows that this album is going to hit you hard with the painful, but beautiful songwriting and delivery. 9/10

2. Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant – This song was released on youtube in acoustic form well before “Ascension” was even announced and really stur up the fans. It instantly garnered positive reviews and really hit me hard about the situation with their ex bass player. The song starts out similar to “Domino the Destitute” from the previous album but in my honest opinion hits a little harder on how hurt Claudio and Travis were about Mic’s leaving and continues the hard hitting start every Coheed album has had. Fantastic vocals and musicianship  Travis’ leads are brilliant and Josh never fails to impress on the drums. 10/10

3. The Hard Sell – This was released a month or so before the album along with the first single “Dark Side of Me” and I fell in love with this song instantly. It continues the hard-hitting nature this album really started with “Sentry” and is a better third track than the previous album’s. The chorus is catchy as anything you’ve ever heard, and the guitar work is fantastic and even catchier. Its supposed to be based around how Coheed’s manager likes to troll Claudio about writing more radio friendly songs, which then gets him to write some really awesome angry song thats even better than anything the radio could have. Great track. 9.5/10

4. Number City – Okay so imagine if an epic hard rock/prog rock album suddenly turned into a Peter Gabriel cover album? Well thats what happens with this track. It’s so damn groovey and is my personal favorite on this album. So different from anything they’ve ever done and yet still so Coheed! The chrous “Honey release my heart, do not let me go” got stuck in my head instantly and the outro with the gang vocals counting the beat was so awesome. The little breakdown where the music stopped really added to the weird factor on this one but its still the grooviest track they’ve ever done! 11/10

5. Gravity’s Union – Now here’s where we get into the classic side of Coheed. This sort of heavy but catchy side that shifts to clean quiet bridges and builds the intensity throughout the song and breaks out all over itself in a total array of epicness in the final chorus. Chanting, big choruses, distorted guitars, clean guitars, raspy and melodic vocals, this song feels very much like if “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3” and “The Broken” meshed together and made something so magical it could only be beaten by Chuck Norris’ fists themselves. 10/10

6. Away We Go – I feel like I and many of you have heard songs with this sort of feel. But I feel like Coheed had to have a song like this eventually. Its poppy, but really feels like a Coheed love tune. It really breaks away from the heat of the first half of the album and sort of begins the softer poppier edge to the album, and gets stuck in your head quick. Catchy riffs and melodies, the bass in this song is wonderful as Zach Cooper always is. 9/10

7. Iron Fist – One of the only songs everyone knew was written while both Chris and Mic were still in the band, and the song has really changed since we first heard acoustic demos of it some two years ago. It really has this nice acoustic/electro ballad feel with the beauty and simplicity in the lyrics with the soft instrumentals that really hit hard in your heart as you can feel  and see what Claudio is singing. The bridge is fantastic and the song has really progressed. I love this version so much more than the original demo versions. 9.5/10

8. Dark Side of Me – The album’s first single and probably the one song I didn’t love at first. While I could definitely tell why they chose it as the single (it’s chorus is so catchy and radio friendly, and reminiscent of “The Broken”‘s chorus) but I was disappointed with them not choosing “Sentry” or “Hard Sell”. It was premiered live on Conan and thats when I found the song’s beauty. You know how there’s a song you dont like until you hear it preformed live or at least in a more raw fashion? Well thats what this song is for me. It has slowly become a favorite for me and is one of the most solid singles Coheed has released. 9/10

9. 2’s My Favorite 1 – my favorite song next to “Number City” on this album. This is such a fantastic love song with one of my favorite choruses ever written. This song will be played at my future wedding (provided I ever have one) and Ill rock out hard to it. Great piano work to match the fantastic guitars, but the drums in this song makes it for me. Josh really makes this songs’ slightly above average guitar work sound more complicated and beautiful. This song really closes off the album well and makes you feel like you’ve just made it home after a very long trip, much like Sirius Amory coming home to his wife and realizing that she is all he needs and finding comfort in their love. Brilliant way to close this epic double album, and a much better closing song than Subtraction! 10.5/10

Overall this album is a little stronger than its part 1 and really helps to partner it and complete one hell of an epic double album full of grade A material. Listen to both Ascension and Descension to get the full effect of The Afterman though. Dont listen to them as seperate albums, because to fully feel complete you need to listen to it as a whole. Its well worth the hour and a half listen time. I give Descension in itself however, a 9.5/10  and thats only because it doesnt feel complete unless precedented by Ascension to me.

Buy Descension on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/afterman-descension-deluxe/id585827464

Coheed’s Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/coheedandcambria?fref=ts

Website – http://coheedandcambria.com

018: “The Afterman: Ascension” by Coheed & Cambria

Afterman: Ascension by Coheed and Cambria

Alright, so the other review I (Chris) did should hint that I love progressive rock and what better prog rock than the modernized version Coheed & Cambria have been throwing at us for almost 13 years? Well, these masters of scy-fy pop/prog/metal have released another album. And this time its a double album! The first of which, “The Afterman: Ascension” is out today and the second “The Afterman: Descension” is out sometime early February 2013. But back to the main focus at hand: Ascension.

Back in 2008 Coheed acquired Dillinger Escape Plan drum Chris Pennie and in 2010 released their most unpopular album, Year of the Black Rainbow. Although the album is still enjoyed by most fans, it is considered their worst(its still an 8/10 hahaha). But in 2011 bassist Mic Todd was arrested and kicked out of the band, and Chris Pennie left due to creative differences. So where do they go from here? They bring back their original drum Josh Eppard, and bring in a longtime fan to play bass, Zach Cooper! These boys jammed and recorded most of late 2011 and early 2012 and released this beast on October 9th. Ill do a track by track review from here on out:

1. The Hollow – while it may not be a legitimate “song”, this opener REALLY sets the mood as Sirius Amory ventures into the Keywork to discover what lurks inside. Great, haunting intro.

2. Key Entity Extraction I – Domino the Destitute – this is the albums first single and was released with an 8 minute long video on August 28th. It has been well accepted by fans and critics and is held up as one of their best songs, and in my opinion, their best single ever released. Who can argue with multiple tempo/time signature changes and a fast beating chorus that will get your heart going? 10/10

3. The Afterman – the title track really slows things down after the epic Domino. Its very mellow and quite haunting in the verse’s vocal delivery. The lyrics tell of Sirius Amory’s wife Mary’s troubles and doubts of her husbands safety in the Keywork, and her hoping he returns soon. If you’re a fan of Claudio Sanchez’s side project The Prize Fighter Inferno, you’ll love this song. As it really reminds us all of a PFI song, but with a bigger chorus. 9/10

4. Mothers of Men – this song opens up with a tasty guitar riff and pounding bass drum and leads into a song very reminiscent of their 2005 “Good Apollo 1” song Once Upon Your Dead Body but with a heavier chorus. This song really showcases the lyrical talent and musical capabilities that can be accessed in a more poppy tune. Although the transitions from choruses to verses may be a bit weird at first, thats just because that main riff is so all over the place. This song will grow on you if you didn’t like it at first listen. 9/10

5. Goodnight, Fairy Lady – if they make a second single for this album, Goodnight should be it! This song has one hella awesome guitar riff and the poppy elements that make almost every classic Coheed single. The whole execution of this song really reminds me of their 2003 song “The Verolium Camper I: Fain of Hearts” with that bouncy, sweet groove that the bass and guitar really accentuate. When I listened through this album the first time I had to hit repeat on this track because that chorus is so damn catchy and it was stuck in my head instantly. 10/10

6. Key Entity Extraction II – Holly Wood the Cracked – this song was released before the album along with the title track and was instantly loved by most fans. This song really has that demented weird metal sound some of Year of the Black Rainbow had, but this is MUCH heavier. And the bridge right after the second chorus is one of the catchiest things I’ve ever heard. This really sets the tone for the next 2 parts of the Key Entity Extraction suite. 9/10

7. Key Entity Extraction III – Vic the Butcher – oh god, this one is so hard to really judge. Out of all the Key Entity songs thus far, this is my personal favorite. The chorus with the big chanting of “Hang your secrets hang em up hang em up now!” will become a fantastic to open future shows and showcases this bands ability to make these heavier songs just as catchy as the poppier ones. The intro sounds like the guitar build up in their 2001 song “Delirium Trigger” and really pumps you up as the song breaks into the first verse. In the demo version, this song had a longer guitar solo and although I really wish they had kept a longer solo section in this song, the short KICK ASS shredding Travis does at 3:23 really shows the intensity of this song and how tight this song really is. My one complaint is the ending should have had a full band chorus instead of just the slamming on the crash symbols and the chanting, but hey, thats why they’re writing the songs and Im not. 9.5/10

8. Key Entity Extraction IV – Evagria the Fruitful – this song opens up with an 80’s cop movie theme song sort of vibe and really slows everything down again after the intensity of Vic. Insanely haunting and catchy with the multiple vocals during the verse. The emotion pours out as the chorus kicks in and all the voices channel into Claudio’s single voice. They really kept this song on the mellow side while still making it somehow heavy. It doesn’t have much distortion, if any at all, but really seems to pack a punch that many of their softer songs sometimes don’t do. Im very interested in the conceptual explanation of this song, seeing as it seems to be sung from a male perspective but is titled “Evagria”. But back to the music. The bridge really builds this song up while maintaining that mellow groove they’ve built since the songs start. And the gang vocals groaning “this hurt wont go away” really hit hard as Claudio jumps back into the chorus and the song closes out with the main riff. 9/10

9. Subtraction – this song is even more like a PFI song than The Afterman and is probably the slowest, weirdest song these boys have written yet. Although on first listen I passed it off as the one flaw of the album, I began to listen to this one song by itself for a whole day and realized how much emotion is hidden behind this mellow electronic beauty. It closes the first half of this story well and really leaves the listener wanting whats in store in “Descension”. If you don’t really like this one after a while, find the demo version and listen to that version. I prefer the demo version with the acoustic guitars only and wish that they had kept that version of the song but oh well. The studio version is still just as solid as any softer Coheed track, you just need to give it a couple intense listens to find its true beauty. 8/10

If you’re a Coheed fan and haven’t picked this one up yet, or you’re new to this whole side of music that most bands don’t really try to do, definitely pick up “The Afterman: Ascension” and give it a few solid listens before judging it. I give this beastly first part of a hopefully epic double album a 9/10. Its a definite giant leap back in the right direction for these guys.

014: “Impossible Landscape” by Children of Nova

Impossible Landscape by Children of Nova

Now, I know that the rules here are to only post reviews of new albums (meaning within the last week or so) but this masterpiece came out just a few months ago and hasnt had many good reviews (or any at all) so I figured I should take a whack at it.

So for starters, Children of Nova is an unsigned progressive rock quintet from San Diego who rocked many prog-rockers ears for the first time with their first release, Complexity of Light (2009). That album told a sort of sci-fi story that was left of a cliffhanger and was supposed to be followed up with a full length album and thats what Im going to talk about.

Impossible Landscape opens up with ease and beauty. Teo’s vocals and the rest of the band are off to a great start. It seems disappointing at first because of the shorter 4 minute or so lengths of the songs versus the previous 6 minute lengths on the last album, but these songs pack more transition and punch than almost any song on COP. I know at first I was skeptical but after a few listens I was in love. “We stand to take a chance on anything thats real” sung in the slow moving ballad-esque “Feel Alive” which shows the bands maturity and versatility. They show they dont have to play fast paced heavy rock riffs and falsetto vocals to write a song and stick to mostly clean guitars and spacey synth sounds behind a very emotional vocal. This work of art ends off with “Its Just a Ride” the longest song on the record, with a sound similar to that of “Circa Survive” but containing the metal instrumentals that made up most of Complexity of Light. This song brings out all the energy from this album and serves it on a silver platter and reminds you why you even listened to the album in the first place. It gives the album great closure and ends all the intense prog chaos.

All in all, while many music fans may not like these guys because of the progressive nature in their music, most if not all prog-rockers will find something to love within this little San Diego gem. Although some songs do blend into each other in the middle of the album, causing some dragged out sections (as does happen in the cases of many progressive rock songs/albums), the album stands strong and really showcases a huge growth in a band that youll be sure to hear a lot about in upcoming years. Id definitely recommend giving it a listen on youtube or spotify. Or if you trust me and your love of great music enough, buy it on itunes like I did.  I promise you wont regret it!

-Chris

Children’s of Nova FB: http://www.facebook.com/childrenofnova

Twitter: https://twitter.com/childrenofnova

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/childrenofnova

Buy The Album: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/impossible-landscape/id510237789

http://childrenofnova.bandcamp.com/album/impossible-landscape