If you, like me, find originality to be one of the most important qualities in music, look no further than prog-rockers Coheed & Cambria. With their falsetto-voiced lead singer, ultra-heavy old-school guitar riffs and concept albums that revolve around a science-fiction comic book series, this band is nothing if not unique.
A progressive band in the truest sense of the term, Coheed has based all of their albums thus far on the comic book series "The Armory Wars," co-authored by lead vocalist and guitarist Claudio Sanchez. Despite the slightly bizarre premise, Coheed's music remains incredibly accessible even to a casual listener.
The band's fourth effort, No World for Tomorrow, picks up right where the third left off, following "The Armory Wars" hero Claudio Kilganon through his entire sci-fi saga. Though the overarching storyline from the first three albums is incredibly intricate and interesting, I suspect most fans find the plot a bit too dense to follow. Yet this is the beauty of Coheed and Cambria. Their music may be easily enjoyed at face-value, yet there remains a rich back-story that the listener can choose to delve into.
No World for Tomorrow nicely concludes the storyline of the first three albums and reflects how the band has grown musically throughout their career. The band always does a great job intertwining heavy guitar riffs with catchy hooks, making them both radio favorites and greatly respected in the musical community. No World for Tomorrow is no exception.
In typical Coheed style, the disc begins on a softer note with "The Reaping," only to be quickly followed by two much more intense numbers. Tracks two and three are similar to other heavier Coheed songs, with some extended guitar soloing and screaming vocals by Claudio. Pink Floyd fans might enjoy the introduction to "The Hound (of Blood and Rank)" -- it sounds like something straight out of Dark Side of the Moon. In fact, the band has admitted to drawing inspiration from both Pink Floyd and classic prog-rockers Rush.
The disc also contains lighter tracks with catchy vocals and incredibly addictive hooks. "Feathers" is definitely this album's "A Favor House Atlantic," with a chorus you can't help but bob your head to. Immediately after "Feathers" comes "The Running Free," another über-catchy track that is slated to be the album's first single.
Another standout is "Gravemakers and Gunslingers," a track that makes one wonder who would win in a soloing contest between Claudio Sanchez and Jimmy Page. In fact, someone at PlayStation needs to immediately add this song to the future playlist of Guitar Hero IV.
The one complaint I have for No World for Tomorrow is the album's concluding series. The sequence of five songs should act as a finale not just for the CD, but for the entire "Armory Wars" storyline. Given what these last five songs needed to accomplish, I found the actual results slightly anticlimactic. The songs are by no means bad, but if No World For Tomorrow really marks the end of the adventures of Claudio Kilganon in Coheed's music, I expected something epic in the last few tracks.
For those Coheed novices reading, don't let the whole "concept-album-based-on-a-comic-book" thing scare you away. With Claudio and guitarist Travis Stever showcasing stellar guitar chops and an amazing ability to write catchy lyrics, this album will impress anyone from a brand-new listener to a die-hard Coheed fanatic.
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