Coheed and Cambria

Coheed and Cambria has returned like the second coming of Christ, nourishing its fans with much needed progressive rock.

The Afterman: Ascension is the sixth album from the band, bringing back the concept album formula. As in all Coheed music, a narrative accompanies the album, giving the listener an extra prize at the bottom of the cereal box.

The Afterman: Ascension is part one of a two-disc set. The second part, The Afterman: Descension, will be released in Feb. 2013 and will be a musical continuation of Coheed’s career-long story that’s been adapted into graphic novel, Amory Wars, written by singer Claudio Sanchez. Storytelling is an important aspect to the conception of all of the Coheed albums.

The Afterman: Ascension starts off with the eerie futuristic intro “The Hollow,” which sets the mood. The group then transitions into the strongest track on the album, “Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute,” which has an intense guitar introduction and a musical complexity throughout the song that produces goose bumps on top of goose bumps.

The Afterman: Ascension continues in a very strong manner that is isreminiscent of Coheed’s 2002 album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, with a facelift. “Mothers of Men,” “Key Entity Extraction III: Vic the Butcher,” and “Subtraction” will give fans and first time listeners a good dose of the epic sound of Coheed and Cambria.

With lyrics that would make H.G Wells giddy, insane guitar rifts, and the infectious voice of Sanchez, Coheed and Cambria create a superb musical science fiction novel that fans will “welcome home.”