Coheed & Cambria

I came across Coheed & Cambria (C&C) several times in Prog Magazine, and when I found an album of theirs (Good Apollo Vol.1) in Oxfam for £1.50 I took a chance. I really liked it, bought their newest album to date (as of July 2023: Vaxis II), and then returned to my normal method of starting at the beginning and working my way forward. 

C&C are really odd. Their entire catalogue of music (except 2015's The Color Before The Sun) is based around a single concept. Essentially, singer and primary songwriter Claudio Sanchez came up with a 5-part sci-fi epic storyline known as the Amory Wars (pronounced Ah-mor-ey), where Coheed and Cambria (and their son) are the main protagonists. Their first 5 albums follow this storyline (though in the order: 2, 3, 4, 5, 1), after which they have written other storylines set within the same 'world'. The albums (almost) all have accompanying graphic novels and comics to explain the story more. It's very complicated and, honestly, I don't care a great deal about any of this (see The Amory Wars - Wikipedia for more info). This narrative framing was partly intended to allow Sanchez to write songs without being overly personal, using the grand space opera framing as metaphors for more universal themes. 

Musically, C&C are also odd. Their first album starts them out with an emo/post-hardcore sound, which by the second album is already being side-lined in favour of prog-rock. From album 3 onwards, we are mainly in firm proggy territory, with forays into metal, math rock, grunge, emo (again), indie, pop rock, punk, and post-punk. They're quite the seasoned genre-hoppers. 

They are also frequently compared to Rush (I've seen them called 'the emo Rush' a few times), and it's not difficult to see why: their first album sounds nothing like anything else they did after; Sanchez's high vocals are an acquired taste; sci-fi nonsense used as metaphor; long and multi-part songs; music can be highly technical but accessible; gets easily distracted by pop sensibilities and technology. There's no Geddy and no Neil, but you can't have everything. 

C&C is:

Claudio Sanchez - vocals, guitars, keys
Travis Stever - guitars, backing vocals
Michael Todd (1995-2007)/Zach Cooper (2007-present) - bass
Josh Eppard - drums

The Second Stage Turbine Blade (2002)

This is not a very proggy album, except in one sense: C&C's first album is the second part of the Amory Wars saga. Starting at the beginning is so mainstream...

Most C&C album openers are short (1min-ish) instrumental motifs, sometimes with orchestras, sound effects, and/or voice overs. And most C&C albums also end with a reprise of that opening motif. That practice starts here, and is the only real musical hint that we're in 'concept album' territory. For a grand sci-fi space opera tale, this otherwise sounds nothing of the sort. 

I won't dwell very much on this entry, mostly because I don't like it at all. Essentially, this is a relatively straightforward grungey, emo-ey album with only the occasional glance at changing up that formula. The music is built around walls of distorted, grungy, undefined guitar chords, with the odd squealing solo playing. There are some riffs, but they are lost in the unrelenting Wall Of Guitars. 

Sanchez's vocal lines are also quite 'typically emo', crying out impassioned lyrics which regularly require him to break his voice mid-line. There aren't many clear melodies, and certainly no catchy choruses. There's a bit of random screaming every so often, which also adds to the emo impression. 

Charitably, the song structures are not all straightforward. There quite a few abrupt tempo and melody switches (Everything Evil, Junesong Provision, God Send Conspirator), which might suggest first attempts to push musical boundaries. The last song, God Sent Conspirator, might be the album highlight for doing the most in this regard. But it's pushing it. 

Like Rush's first album Rush (a relatively straightforward Led Zeppelin-alike), this is not a representative statement of C&C. It's the sound of a band who aren't quite sure what it is they want to do with themselves. Going by what comes next, it seems clear they didn't really want to do this. Unlike Rush, though, I don't think The Second Stage is much good at all. It's not cringingly bad like Sabaton's first album Metalizer (see previous post), but as someone who doesn't like this kind of music, it's really not for me. 

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)

Ah the classic 'transition album', where one can literally hear in real time a band move from one direction to another, to be completed on the next album. Like many a transition album, there are growing pains here. There are some emo hangovers that haven't quite yet been shaken off, and a lot of 'reach exceeding grasp' as C&C start experimenting wildly. 

As noted above, most C&C albums open with a short instrumental motif, and from hereon the opener of album B is meant to sound like a continuation of the ending motif of album A. It's a nice idea for if/when one listens to one album after the other in order. 

We then go straight into the 8 minute(!) title track, which seems to want to make a proggy opening statement with its fiddly off-beat riff that runs through the verses and multiple movements, but then reverts to a more emo-ey place come the chorus. The difference here, though, is that the chorus is... catchy? The groovy, fiddly riffs continue into Cuts Marked In The March Of Men, which keeps up the abrupt section (and tempo) transitions. We also get some nice time-signature changes on several songs, and some off-piste genre switches (The Crowing seems to go from prog rock verses, to emo-ey chorus, to math metal breakdown, to soft pop-punk outro)

C&C start developing a pop sensibility on this album that comes to fruition on the next album - and I don't see this is as a bad thing at all when mixed with complicated songs. The poppy sensibility somewhat gets the better of them on tracks like Three Evils, which is quite a straightforward pop rock song other than the - rather disconcerting - screaming vocals that act as a response to the clean calls in the bridges. Also on Blood Red Summer, which (whether true or not) has 'studio-directed lead single' written all over it. 

In Keeping Secrets gives us C&C's first multi-part song (of many...). Here we have the 3-part The Camper Velourium. It's worth saying that almost all of C&C's 'long songs' are broken into parts, and very rarely do they make sense as a single piece of music. Instead, they are usually meant to convey a single plot, and each part can sort-of be considered as an independent song. In this case, Part 1 gives us a surf-rock riff with a soft-rock chorus; Part 2 gets prog-metal-ey; and Part 3 leans further into metal for the most part (lots of distorted and layered vocals too), but with a pop-punk chorus. 

Not content with pulling out all of the above prog cliches, they also decide that the album should end twice. The album naturally ends on (the 9 minute!) The Light & The Glass, which takes out the acoustic guitars for the first 2 minutes, slowly building to an operatic climax around half way, before going a bit weirdly shock-rock/Alice Cooper-ey for a minute, and then ending on a 2-minute "pray for us all" chant, after which the album opening motif is reprised. Ten 5-second tracks of silence later, we are given another 9 minute song called 21:13 (1 minute after 21:12, get the Rush reference?...). Channelling their mid-career Rush, they give us a reggae riff with some wavey synths for the first few minutes. As above, this song goes through several movements and genre shifts, but by this point the album's been going for an hour and frankly you just want it to be over. 

Unlike their first attempt, this is a good album (especially if you like 6/8 time, there's a lot of that kicking around here). There is a lot of interesting experimenting going on, and quite a lot of it works really well. But there is a massive Kitchen Sink problem here. With 3 songs pushing 9 minutes, and the 3-Part song at 15m, you can't help but get tired. Most other songs are around the 5m mark. You just get the feeling that they got carried away. Not every song needs 6 different riffs and 8 different sections. But you've got to credit the huge amount effort and experimentation here. A bit more focus on making songs, rather than epics, and they're there...

Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness (2005)

The first C&C album I bought, which amusingly is: their third album, which is part 1 of a 2-part Good Apollo series, and part 4 of the overarching Amory Wars series. More fun with numbers occurs in the tracklist... And yes, that album title is a mouthful. 

This is a prog rock record with much more focus than the last one, and also a keener ear for melody and - I suppose - catchiness. Though I care little for the storyline, it is worth noting the absolute bonkers-ness of this one. Instead of singing songs from the PoV of the characters or an objective narrator, this one is told from the perspective of The Author, who seems to be some sort of historian/chronicler within the world of the story. And so we have to deal with both the A plot of the Amory Wars, and the B plot of an unreliable narrator with his own problems. How much can you get away with by just shrugging and saying "Eh, it's prog"? (See Ian Anderson's Homo Erraticus for a similarly ridiculous concept).  

After the obligatory motif opener comes an additional introductory song, with Sanchez singing sweetly over an acoustic guitar (which he comes back to on the simple singer-songwriter Wake Up). And then we hit a searing metal riff (with orchestral strings, naturally...) that takes us into Welcome Home. Sanchez channels his inner Geddy Lee for the vocals, aiming high, and takes us through an instant C&C classic which touches 70s rock, 00s pop, operatic rock (Meatloaf), and power metal. Only switching gears slightly, through a more proggy/fiddly sounding riff than the last, we then go to Ten Speed which is about an evil bicycle, obviously. 

That keener ear for melody I mentioned reveals itself most obviously in the more radio-friendly songs. Crossing The Frame and Once Upon A Dead Body are relatively simple rock songs that can be sung along to throughout. But the hit single The Suffering stands out for its absurdly catchy pop rock chorus (with obligatory background "hey! hey!"s), which belie the peculiar vocal rhythms contained in the verses and bridges. 

The prog rock/metal is used more selectively here, rather than plastered all over the house. The standout track(s) on the album is Apollo. This song is actually 2 songs, titled Apollo I: The Writing Writer (track 6), and The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth (track 14). These are essentially (though admittedly not wholly) the same song structurally and musically, but with different lyrics in the verses. The riffs are complex and intricate, there are tempo and time-signature shifts all over the shop, and it has the absurdly juvenile but satisfying chorus line "So come on/cry on bitch, why aren't you laughing now?". Mother May I is also a very odd-sounding song, largely attributable to the hard-to-pin-down drum rhythm of the verses which plays under an equally tricky (but soft) riff. 

Following the first 'long song' on the previous album, we have the 4-part (20min) The Willing Well. This is basically spacy prog metal from start to finish. Part 1 has a math rock, staccato feel until about 4m in when the drums stay complicated but the vocals and guitars go soft. Part 2 starts off very upbeat and bright before switching dark, continuing the contrast back and forth throughout until the last 2 minutes which go a bit operatic. Part 3 of The Willing Well, which doubles up as Part II of Apollo (woo prog!), has already been covered. Part 4 slows things down, almost getting Black Sabbath-ey, to take us home. After which we end with the utterly random Led Zeppelin tribute Bron-Yr (an almost, but not quite, cover of the first minute of Bron-Yr-Aur-Stomp). 

I really like this album, even though it's extremely dark lyrically (lots of death, disease, despair). The catchy songs are catchy, while not being overly simple. The proggy songs are proggy, without spilling into overindulgent messes. And even in the proggy songs, Sanchez is doing much more interesting (and pleasant-sounding) things with his voice. One notable pullback is there is significantly less genre-hopping here. Some might think that a downside, but I think it makes for a much more focused and consistent listening experience. This is peak 2112 Coheed & Cambria. 

Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume II: No World For Tomorrow (2007)

Fourth album, Part II of the Good Apollo series, and the finale/fifth entry in the Amory Wars. 

A slight change of tactic in going straight into a short acoustic song with Sanchez singing over, so no clear instrumental motif this time. But the first song is still only acting as an introduction. 

Hitting the ground running, No World For Tomorrow picks up where the last album left off. There is an air of Welcome Home about this, with its groovy prog metal riff and soaring arena rock pre-choruses, and one is wondering whether this is going to be a very similar album to the last (which might be a good or bad thing...). But then we take a left-turn into The Hound, which is a macho strut rocker that just doesn't sound sincere at all in the choruses - it almost feels like they're doing this ironically?  

This is followed by the lead single and clear radio-fodder Feathers, which does absolutely nothing for me. It's along the lines of the less-good Nickelback ballads, with little to raise interest. After which The Running Free tries to rescue things by attempting to repeat the success of The Suffering in pairing a decent prog riff with a catchy chorus, but just doesn't work for me. Mother Superior is certainly different, and takes some chances with genre hopping but just goes on and on (2 minutes could have been cut from this 6.30 track easily). 

Just as you're starting to think "oh dear, I think it's all gone wrong...", C&C throw out a speedy prog metal track in Gravemakers & Gunslingers which is almost excellent but the female backing vocals (done by Sanchez's wife) simply don't fit properly here. Great riff though. After which Justice in Murder confuses the listener with some fun proggy verses followed by a surprisingly flat chorus. 

Before you realise it, it's time for the 5-part The End Complete (24-ish-mins). Part 1 occupies the same sort of instrumental space that C&C usually starts their albums with, but sure put it here instead. Part 2 (Radio Bye Bye) is a genuinely fun and catchy prog-adjacent rock song with another chorus that's far too catchy for how silly it sounds. Part 3 gets ambitious, blending operatic elements with metal and hardcore. Part 4 pivots hard into an all-out Aerosmith ballad. Part 5 then gets ambitious again by switching genres every 45 seconds (pick out piano jazz, blues, crooner/50s) and then closing with 2 minutes of metal riffing with 'Hail!' being repeatedly shouted, followed by a return to the piano and an instrumental play out. 

I'm afraid this is a bit of a mess of an album. I don't like not liking it; it was produced by Nick Raskuilnecz who only a few months prior had helped Rush make their excellent Snakes & Arrows album. But it's all over the place. The focus is gone again. It almost feels like they aimed to make a similar kind of prog-metal, but still catchy, album as Good Apollo I, but missed. It's a real shame, as this is meant to be the conclusion of the epic 5-part story, but it just falls flat. With 3 albums in a row that were each drastically different from the last, perhaps the mistake was in trying to stand still this time.

Year of the Black Rainbow (2010)

Fifth album, which acts as 'Part 1' of the entire Amory Wars saga. Essentially, this is a prequel to the first album, and so completes the 5-album storyline. 

Musically, this album seems to attempt to build a bridge between the crunchy emo rock of The Second Stage Turbine Blade and their later proggier sound. Thematically, this makes sense as there must have been some intention to make this album sound as if it could be played prior to Second Stage and it not be totally jarring (if you wanted to listen to the albums chronologically in terms of narrative). For me, though, this can't help but come across as a regression. I can see the appeal for some fans that C&C have stripped away the overcomplicated song construction (etc.) and returned to a simpler and more straightforward sound; but if the overcomplicated songs are what you like about C&C, then this album might not be for you (or, indeed, me...). 

Opening song One starts us off with a 2ish minute ambient instrumental piece. So far, so expected. 

And then the hard-rock The Broken kicks us off proper. Nothing particularly interesting going on here, it's punchy and upbeat, maybe a little bit angry, and is a good way to start the album. Following on we then get Guns of Summer, which is probably the only proggy song on the whole album. In fact, this is straight-up mathcore - it's a massive assault of complex riff picking and overdrumming. Maybe it's good if you like that sort of thing, but I wouldn't describe it as particularly pleasant to listen to. 

Here We Are Juggernaut was a lead single, and for my money it's a relatively simple emo rocker with a soaring sing-along chorus. Not a very big fan of this. 

The rest of the album can be approximately split between emo rockers and ballads. Concerning the latter, Far is quite good with a compelling riff and melody which drives you through the song. Made Out Of Nothing (All That I Am) is less good, and trends towards uninspired soft rock territory. Pearl Of The Stars does something different by being largely acoustic until the guitar solo, and Sanchez's vocals are genuine and tender. 

The remaining rockers somewhat blend together, and it's difficult to think of much to say about them. World Of Lines is fun and upbeat with a catchy chorus. In The Flame Of Error is in 6/8, but has a relatively flat melody which doesn't catch your attention. 

Album closer, The Black Rainbow, is the closest we get to a multi-part song. The first 2 minutes sound not-dissimilar to the instrumental opening song, but with softly spoken vocals. Then we get 4 full minutes of multi-layered screaming under the main vocal line, mixed with 'wall of sound' guitars and a singled out guitar riff. It's all a bit much. And finally a minute or so of atmospheric closing. 

On the one hand, this album did not try and repeat the prior sound/success of previous albums. C&C are definitely trying something a bit different - a little less self-indulgent, less spacey, less obviously proggy. It's just that I don't particularly like the result. I think this album loses some of what makes C&C different than other emo/hardcore bands, which is that proggy sensibility. Not to say this is a bad album, as some of the songs on it are quite good, they're just not very interesting. Luckily, C&C rediscovered prog for the next two albums!

The Afterman: Ascension (2012)

Having finished a 5-part saga set within a fictional sci-fi universe, what to do next? Write a two-part story told across two albums which is set before the Amory Wars of course... The Afterman: Ascension and The Afterman: Descension were written and recorded around the same time, and then released about 6 months apart. Together they form a double-album which tells the story of Sirius Amory, the scientist/explorer who sets out to investigate a strange energy source (The 'Keywork') which all of the planets in the star system use. Entering the energy source, Sirius discovers it's actually where all dead souls go, and he becomes possessed by several of them and relives their lives. 

Both Afterman albums are highly ambitious, and musically diverse. C&C genre-hop all over the place, and really flex their creativity. We start with part 1: Ascension. 

Ticking the C&C tropes box immediately, opener The Hollow is a dreamy instrumental with a dialogue between Sirius Amory and 'All Mother' (the AI for his spaceship; think Tony Stark's Jarvis), who tells Sirius that she will be with him throughout his journey. 

This then transitions into Key Entity Extraction 1: Domino The Destitute. There are five Key Entity Extraction songs across both Afterman albums, with the first four being on Ascension. This first one essentially starts the album proper, but entries 2-4 come in as tracks 6-8. So they're not in order, and they don't really make sense to consider them as five parts of a single song. What they are, are five songs to represent Sirius being possessed by five different souls. So, what is Domino The Destitute like? It's a return to prog-metal form! The first minute builds us up through three different riffs, at which point Sanchez jumps in to lay down a rhythmically complex vocal line (he's very good at playing with the off-beats). Other than the main chorus, there is little repetition at all in the song as each section runs slightly differently, with tempo and time changes. At 3.30 the tempo drops to generate theatrical suspense, then later on at 5.20 we have a mock ring-side commentary (Domino was a boxer). Can you tell I like this song? It's 8 minutes of proggy madness, and makes a rather large statement about what these albums are going to be. 

Which makes it all the more pleasing that the next song, The Afterman, takes an extreme left-turn to subvert that expectation. This is an extremely soft, slightly post-rock, song that has Sanchez breathing through the vocals. I'd hate an album full of this, but as a bizarre one-shot it's brilliant. On the other side of this strange sandwich is Mothers of Men, which is a more straightforward metal song. Continuing to zig when you expect a zag, Goodnight Fair Lady has a turn-of-the-millenium pop rock sensibility with some excellent duelling guitar lines (other reviewers have suggested this sounds like Thin Lizzy - but I wouldn't know). 

We then get a triple-bill of Key Entity Extraction songs (2, 3, and 4). The first, Holly Wood The Cracked, is angry. It's a bit doomy, a bit punky, with a consistent sinister undertone that sounds like Sanchez is signing through an evil smirk... until the rug gets swept out from under you for the bridge which is all boyband sparkles and sunshine. Madness, and I love it. Follow up, Vic The Butcher, has proggy elements with its 6 minutes worth of section changes; but the elements themselves are quite punk/emo-ey. The repeated sign along line "Hang your secrets in a vault, in a vault now!" is a bit too teenage for me. Thirdly, Evagria The Faithful, is another one which has intricate proggy verses (with added sequenced synths) but then goes all mainstream pop-hook in the chorus. Pulling off the same trick two songs apart might seem a bit repetitive, but when they both make you smile every time I don't think it matters. 

The album then closes with Subtraction, which sounds a bit like Owl City (remember Fireflies? That song was everywhere for about 6 months). Jaunty and jingly synths dominate, with some acoustic guitar in the background. Sanchez then manages to sing even more softly, breathing even more through the lines, than on The Afterman. Probably my least favourite song on the album, but it's a nice way to end. 

In sum, this album is all over the place. Genres are hopped both between and within songs, and the entire thing is mad. I have seen it referred to as 'unfocussed', which might be fair, but after the relatively one-trick-pony Year Of The Black Rainbow, I'll take this kitchen sink of an album any day. 

The Afterman: Descension (2013)

Part 2, Descension, finds our protagonist escaping from the soul possession and returning to his home planet, but unable to share the dangerous knowledge he has discovered. And also he was away for so long he was presumed dead and so his wife moved on. A series of unfortunate events back in the real world, ending in his wife, Meri, dying, result in him returning to the Keywork to try and find her dead soul. 

Opening with Pretelethal, it's tricky to describe this as a 'song'. As an introductory piece to set up the album, we get taken along with a dreamy acoustic guitar and breath-heavy vocals which then transforms into a loud, shouty metal chorus. It's not an especially enjoyable listen, but provides enough foreshadowing to know that this will again be an experimental affair. 

Track two is the final piece of the Key Entity Extraction series of songs, Sentry The Defiant. Like Domino on Ascension, this is a prog-metal showpiece. It isn't quite as twisty and turny, largely staying in 6/8 throughout, but it rocks hard and reassures the listener that the first song was merely the prelude to the main event. This is followed by The Hard Sell, which alternates between catchy 70s rock riff-led verses, and slightly more metal choruses. This one gets in your head. 

Our first abrupt turn of the album occurs next with Number City, which approaches 80s synthpop/krautrock and goes full on pop in the choruses. It's utterly bizarre, and the horn sections are even more baffling. This is another one of those "normally I hate this, but once on an album is endearingly experimental" deals. Switching up again, the longest song at 6:45 is the prog/emo-ballad Gravity's Union. The first 3 minutes of this are relatively uneventful, but then we get about 2 minutes of madness with searing guitar solos and chanting, before we end with an almost stadium-rock finale. It might be the proggiest song on the album actually, in terms of structure and sections, but it doesn't quite do it for me. 

Away We Go is another ode to the past, with a chorus that sounds to me like surf rock. It's not hugely inventive, but it's so upbeat and jolly that you can't help but smile. Turning left once again, Iron Fist is an acoustic ballad that reminds me of The Beatles' Across The Universe; this is fine, but I prefer the similar-ish song The Afterman on Ascension. Dark Side Of Me is then pure emo-ballad - as these go, it's ok, but I'm not a big fan. The album then closes on 2's My Favourite 1, which recalls 90s Rush and throws in a few bars of odd time - a solid C&C song to finish this story on, but it doesn't blow you away. The last minute or so then revives the opening score from the prior album to close the circle. 

Compared to Ascension, Descension continues the experimentation in genres and styles, but unfortunately the genres that are experimented with are not those which I generally like. Together, they form an incredibly impressive body of work that suggests a band/songwriter who can turn their hand to whatever they feel like and pull it off. Personally, Ascension is my preferred half, but I think this is largely a matter of taste. 

The Color Before The Sun (2015)

TCBTS is the only album (so far...) in the entire C&C canon to not be a concept album. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Amory Wars. The concept had long been acknowledged to be a vehicle through which Sanchez could tell personal stories without exposing himself. After finishing the 5-part saga and a double-album prequel, it seemed about time to drop the sci-fi façade. 

TCBTS is therefore a highly personal, emotional, and intimate album which explores Sanchez's feelings of anxiety and introversion, as well as his recent fatherhood. It's got a slightly more singer-songwriter feel about it, and definitely leans more pop. 

Opener, Island (note: no instrumental introductory song!), perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the album. The verses are slightly (but only slightly) proggy in that Sanchez is continuing his unique way of singing around the rhythms, before catchy pop-rock choruses. Lyrically the 'island' in question is a metaphor for the Amory Wars - Sanchez has felt safe on that island but feels it's time to 'swim back to shore' and face reality. It's hard to dislike this: it's an upbeat earworm. 

Though largely eschewing heavier sounds, there are two prog metal-ish tracks. The first, Atlas (named for his son), is a fun 6 minute-er with loud verses and soft choruses, and some pleasing tempo/section changes in the latter 2 minutes. This one is very sweet, lyrically, with the general sense being that it's about Sanchez's love for his son and how he is always in his thoughts when he's on tour. The second song, The Audience, is much angrier. Drawing on the Rush influence (The Spirit of Radio, 2112, etc.) this song is about the corrupt record industry/critics destroying creativity and integrity in artists, and how Sanchez found his audience amongst the "damaged" who are "cut from the same disease" that he is. Very much an outsider/emo anthem, this one. Relatively slow, and with no obvious chorus, the first angrier half laments the music industry, before pivoting on a scream at 3:10 to a more anthemic feel to celebrate the fans. 

Elsewhere we have some more pop-punk/rock. Eraser, on the topic of ageing, sounds very much 21st Century pop rock with its "ooh, ooh"s. You've Got Spirit Kid also sounds very 2015 contemporary (which, years later, also makes it feel a bit dated) with soaring verses, a massive positive-message chorus, and more "ooh, aah"s. Also - side note - there's a lot more swearing on this album (which continues onto the next); maybe more personal means the lyrics require more emphasis. 

The remaining 5/10 songs are all ballads of varying description. Here To Mars is a ballad in the more 80s stadium rock sense, certainly in the choruses, though the verses have an edgier punky momentum. The lyrics are all love. Young Love is a slow, largely forgettable, softly sung ballad over an electric-guitar finger-picked riff that seems to just go on and on. Colors is relatively similar, but I prefer it slightly for a more engaging chorus. 

Two acoustic songs round us off. Ghost recalls Pearl Of The Stars from Year of the Black Rainbow and some of the acoustic songs on the two Afterman albums. It's perfectly nice. Peace on the Mountain starts off very similarly 'singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar' and then switches gears to something approaching gospel? It's an uplifting way to end the album, I suppose. 

In contrast to every other C&C album, this is one that I listen to for the lyrics more than the music. They really are very touching and sincere, and are very relatable. The music, however, tends a bit too close towards mainstream pop-rock for me. Diversity is great, as seen on the Afterman albums, but TCBTS seems to adopt the half ballads/half rockers template of every other rock band (see Nickelback for a band that leans hard into that format very deliberately every album). Without the conceptual framework, it comes across as a bit uncertain. Still, there's lots to like here, but not quite enough to love. 

 

Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures (2018)

Strap in, this entry's going to be a long one. 

Having experimented with dropping the conceptual approach in the previous album, Sanchez seems to have satisfied his curiosity to see what that would be like, and dived head-first into a brand new Amory Wars storyline. Set after the first 5-part Amory Wars saga, Vaxis Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures (Vaxis I for short) is set up as the first in another planned 5-part storyline. Slightly more intelligible than the first saga, Vaxis I concerns the relationship between Sister Spider and Creature who live on a prison planet as they fight to secure the safety of their unborn son, Vaxis. Sanchez has described the story as something like an intergalactic Bonnie 'n' Clyde. Alright then. 

This is a long album. At 78 minutes, and only two songs coming in under 5 minutes (but still over 4), there is an abundance of material. You somewhat think that there are maybe one or two songs that could have been cut to streamline the experience, but no, C&C are throwing you the kitchen sink once again, and you're going to like it! Big In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 vibes. 

An immediate quality-of-life improvement is that the returning opening instrumental now also serves as a narrative Prologue (literally, it's called Prologue) with the narrator, Vaxis, briefly introducing you to the prison-planet context and our main characters. Less need to Google things, but it also makes it less listenable on repeat spins. 

First proper song, The Dark Sentencer, is a statement. Duelling lead guitars playing knotty prog metal riffs, power metal choral chanting, multiple sections and movements in different tempos and time but with an absurdly catchy chorus. It's funny the lyrics include the line Welcome Home, as the song seems to recall that absolutely excellent opening song from Good Apollo I. With a mix of power metal and stadium rock influencing the proggy song structures, this entire album screams 'Epic' (see also the length...). A classic C&C zig/zag then gives us Unheavenly Creatures (technically the (sub-)title track) which starts with, er, chiptune? This transitions to a relatively straightforward indie/pop/punk that is ultimately one of the less memorable notes on the album. 

Toys then starts with a minute of ambient noise before launching into one of those prog riff's that's in 4/4 but tries to sound like it isn't. Musically a fun prog-rock track, but the lyrics make me cringe and remind me of a certain Israeli Eurovision winner too much ("I'm your favourite toy/boy"). Black Sunday has a weird Sabbath/early 00s metal vibe to the verses, and goes full emo in the choruses, then switches to some eerie chanting about 3 minutes in, and then going all stadium rock in the last minute. A bit messy, perhaps. The vague Sabbath/doom sound hinted at on Black Sunday then comes to the fore in Queen of the Dark which sludges and builds, sludges and builds, but never fully climaxes. 

Just when you feel it's all getting a bit repetitive, True Ugly goes full punk; alternating between more classic punk and pop-punk. A simple driving beat with distorted grungy guitars for the verses switches to a melodic pop-punk chorus, and then manages to throw in some unsettling sequenced vocals. Next song, Love Protocol, is then pretty much a simple indie-rock song with soaring choruses, which wouldn't sound out of place on TCBTS. The Pavilion keeps a mainstream sensibility by hitting all the soft-stadium rock notes. The chiptune then makes a surprising return in Night-Time Walkers and is the sort of electronic pop song we saw glimpses of on the Afterman albums (Number City, Subtraction). Not for me, this one. 

It's been a while since I've referred to anything sounding proggy - nothing since the first proper song in fact - but the prog is back for a trio of songs. The Gutter is the sort of sprawling multi-part/genre song that was the bread and butter of In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth, it's even got some screamy emo vocals thrown in for good measure. The Gutter doesn't go full-prog metal, though, unlike next song All On Fire which gets a tad close to math-rock but not too close so that it's still catchy. Though the switch in the latter third of the song gets a bit poppy with its "No longer do I, do I" background vocal lines. It Walks Among Us, which follows, combines synths and heavy guitars for a swaggering prog metal time. 

And yet the album is still going... The penultimate track is the most bizarre song here. Sanchez has said in interviews that most C&C albums have at least one song that he thinks the fans will listen to and wonder if he's finally gone too far (the chiptune wasn't it, apparently); and on this album it's Old Flames. The main melody line you'll recognise as the Prologue piano tune that opens the entire album. But this is... sort of like a Meghan Trainor 50s Doo Wop infused with a modern pop(/punk) sheen? It is utter madness and shouldn't work at all, and yet it's probably the catchiest song on the entire album dammit. It's really annoying but you can't help but admire their gall. The album closes with soft acoustic number Lucky Stars, which also sounds like a TCBTS outtake. 

So, overall thoughts on this album? I love the ambition, the scope, the breadth of genres, the fearlessness, the fun. For some reason, though, I don't love the songs. The Dark Sentencer (and, begrudgingly, Old Flames) is far and away the album highlight, and I can't say anything else reaches the same height. There are no clangers, but this is an album largely full of 6 or 7/10s. C&C are very good at infusing prog metal with a catchy pop sensibility, and it's that latter bit that's often missing here. Instead, there's a definite arena/stadium rock vibe that makes the album greater than the sum of its parts. As a package, it's bursting at the seams with ideas and content. Everyone can find something here they like, they just might not like all of it. 

As a final aside, this was an incredibly difficult album to get a physical copy of. I ended up having to check several websites every few days for 6 weeks before I could find it for a reasonable £11, instead of the seemingly average, but extortionate, asking price of £20-25.

Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind (2022)

Vaxis II picks up the story with the young child, Vaxis, in a coma which has all doctors stumped. Through the narrative it suggests that Vaxis is somewhat omnipresent and is experiencing all of time and space at once (because he's some sort of 'chosen one' maybe, I don't know). The album picks on themes of parenthood and worrying about your child, and seems to end on Vaxis leaving the prison planet in an escape pod, from where he will soon awaken... 

Coming in at a slightly more reasonable 53 minutes, Vaxis II seems to take a deliberate and conscientious decision to lean into a slightly more commercial, pop-influenced sound, but with the attempt made to not abandon their musical and melodic complexity. In a way, this is C&C's Signals album; the Rush album that marked their 80s departure towards a more synth-driven sound. The result is something that sounds slightly too mainstream, but is just too damn catchy to dislike. In fact, it's actually rather good. 

Piano opener The Embers of Fire gives us the chorus of Old Flames from Vaxis I as sung by Sanchez's son, Atlas, and then the orchestra comes in and Sanchez Snr takes over. It's worth saying that anyone looking for anything resembling prog metal will have to wait for the final 3 songs on the album, as the first proper song, Beautiful Losers, is a straight-up pop-punk ballad that is catchy as hell. Comatose glances in the direction of prog with its knotty verse riff, but come the chorus it's back to a pop-punk hook that just gets into you. Follow up Shoulders may be prog under the bonnet, that riff is pretty great, but it's been recorded and produced in way that means it sounds closer to a techno club anthem, especially with that anthemic soaring chorus. It's weird and amazing. 

The next song is the "have they gone too far" song on the album. A Disappearing Act is unashamedly a club anthem. No secret prog undertones or structure this time, this is all synthy electronica that would be at home in Ibiza. As it goes, it is quite a fun listen, but I'm thankful it's only one song. Love Murder One then fits the Vaxis I mould of arena rock. Blood is more of a TCBTS-like ballad. The Liars Club starts off slow, and then hits with a killer punky bridge - this is one that gets in your head, and blends the synths with the guitars nicely. Bad Man begins very synthy, but the swaggering guitars return come the chorus. Our Love then rounds out the 'relatively mainstream' part of the album, being a synthy ballad which recalls Night-Time Walkers and Subtraction from prior albums. 

I've somewhat sped through this album in order to get to the final trilogy of songs. Up to now, though C&C have been genre-hopping as per usual, the songs themselves have been relatively ordinary in terms of structure, time, etc. A few proggy riffs here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. And then Ladders of Supremacy comes in to smack you in the face. The first two minutes consist of dualling guitar riffs which start, get bored, then try something else. It all increases in tension until it's diffused by a calmly repeated synth chord with the first vocal lines which meander up and down and lead to Sanchez hitting one of the most satisfying high notes he's ever recorded, switching seamlessly between clean head voice and gnarly growls. This part is repeated once more, and then the song changes gears again to prog metal solos and a triumphant outro vocal line. This song is what I came here for. 

Ladders of Supremacy doesn't really 'end', but immediately runs into the next song: Rise, Naianasha. An arpeggiated riff is played out of time with the drums for the verses, while the vocal melody hangs them both together. This builds rather quickly into a big arena-rock chorus. It's the slightly poppier of this little trilogy of songs, and possibly the weaker link between them; but if it was anywhere else on the album it would stand out as a highlight. 

Finally, we have the title track, Window of the Waking Mind. Have you noticed that there hasn't been a multi-part song in quite some time? If you discount the 5-part Key Entity Extraction songs from the Afterman albums, which I do, then the last one was on Good Apollo II. WotWM is something of a return, in that it's a single 'long song' (well, 8m:38s is long-ish), but it's explicitly split into 6 parts: I. Time, II. The Awakening, III. Birth, IV. The Mirroring Eyes, V. The Mother, and VI. The Father. This is one of the most 'sci-fi'/spacey sounding songs C&C have ever made, which is odd given they've made 8 other albums set in a sci-fi universe. The first two minutes, Time, have a slight sci-fi TV show theme vibe with the string orchestra. There is then a short spoken word section, The Awakening, where Vaxis seems to wake up from his coma, before a heavy acoustic (almost Western-sounding) riff leads us into Birth. This part involves a juxtaposition between the heavy, loud parts sung by the narrator, and soft, delicate parts sung by Vaxis' parents. This flows directly into The Mirroring Eyes which again has the parents expressing concern for their son, calmly initially, which turns into a scream of anguish with a shock-rock riff played underneath. This fades to transition into The Mother, taking her perspective, with loving words sung over a playful piano melody. Finally, The Father has a more jolly pop-punk vibe that has hints of the Doo Wop song Old Flames from Vaxis I. Finally we close with the short instrumental refrain that the album opened with. It's 8 minutes of madness that just works. 

Vaxis II is a catchier and overall more fun listening experience to Vaxis I, but it concentrates and crams its experimentation into the final 3 songs, leaving the rest of the album to sound relatively 'normal' as far as pop-punky rock albums go. Though there may be too much genre hopping to put off the casual listener. 

As of 2023, when I first wrote this, there are plans to do 3 more Vaxis albums. And on the basis of the first 2, I'm excited to not have a clue where the music is going next!

Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make-Believe (2025)

Oh boy, where to start with this. So this album doesn't really have a great deal in the way of actual plot for the Vaxis storyline. In Vaxis II, our young boy has been sent off into space because he's experiencing all of time/space at the same time. This album is largely about his experiences discovering, and conversing with, The Afterman. Remember Sirius Amory, who we last saw disappear into The Keywork to find his dead wife's soul? Well, he's still there, and has been watching all of time unfold (which presumably means he's listened to the 5 Amory Wars albums and the previous two Vaxis ones...). So this album is both an Afterman and Vaxis sequel. Except, it also isn't. Sanchez has said that this album is much more personal and introspective. What he seems to have done is to use this Vaxis/Afterman framing as a way of discussing his own experience as a creator and artist. Honestly, just ignore this and crank it up. 

Yesterday's Lost starts off with a touching piano intro that slowly morphs into... The Hollow from Afterman Descension! There will be several musical call-backs on this album. The song then transitions to a softly spoken melody over a gently plucked guitar. Classic C&C first song. Goodbye, Sunshine then hits all of the classic rock beats, sounding like a punky Thin Lizzy. Searching For Tomorrow follows, which is probably the most guitar-driven song on the album. The opening riff sounds like a metal extension of a well-known Mozart melody, but then the rest of the song is relatively mainstream catchy pop-rock. Which sounds like a bad thing, but it is really catchy. 

The title track follows, and is part of the main reason why the plot of this album is suspect. Is The Father of Make Believe: Vaxis, The Afterman, or is it Sanchez himself (as the 'father' of the Amory Wars)? It seems like it's all three. Musically, the verses are very soft rock, shifting to a big emo chorus. This is very classic C&C, being all in 6/8. Next song, Meri of Mercy, is the big soaring ballad of the album. Meri, we will recall, was The Afterman's wife who died, and who he returned to the Keywork in search of. This song seems to be a - very belated - lament on Sirius's motivations for doing this. It's actually a really touching song, and a nice change of pace. 

We then get two songs which come as a pair: Blind Side Sonny and Play The Poet. These are the heaviest songs on the album, but they're not metal. They're more in that 'post-hardcore' range. Sanchez screams his way through both of them with some of his most violent enunciation ever. Blind Side Sonny is a crisp 2:22, and it is angry. Except for the weird call/response thing in the chorus where he's shouting "Blood, we want blood!" and some female backing singers happily respond "Yeah yeah yeah, we want some". Lyrically, this song is meant to introduce a new villain in the Vaxis storyline, but he doesn't actually seem to do anything in the lyrics of the other songs. The song doesn't really end, but transitions flawlessly into Play The Poet. Equally angry, this song again blurs the line between story and reality as the lyrics describe replaying life events over in your head (like Sirius and Vaxis are doing) and whether you could do things differently, but as with other songs this could equally be Sanchez who - literally - plays the poet in chronicling the story. 

The next three songs are probably the least stand-out. One Last Miracle and Someone Who Can are both extremely upbeat pop rock songs; the latter sounds more like a Color Before The Sun outtake and would be at home on any 'summer anthem' playlist. Corner My Confidence, which sits in between, is the obligatory acoustic singer-songwriter song. They're all fine, but fade into obscurity given what comes before and after. 

The album closes with our first proper multi-part saga since The Afterman. The Continuum comes in four parts: I Welcome to Forever, Mr Nobody; II The Flood; III Tethered Together; and IV So It Goes. Like previous sagas, these aren't really a single song, but more a series of songs linked by a narrative thread. That thread is the mental link between Vaxis and Sirius/The Afterman. I sounds like an Afterman outtake, aiming for arena rock with a few minor section breaks and diversions. II is the star of The Continuum. One word I haven't yet used for this album is 'prog', because there isn't very much of it around. The Flood is the closest, with the tempo and vibe changing several times through the song, and with ominous melody call-backs to Afterman songs (e.g. Gravity's Union). III starts with a piano version of the Afterman Descension song Key Entity Extraction 1: Domino The Destitute, but is otherwise a relatively straightforward pop rock song with the most sing-along chorus of the entire album. IV is then the bizarre left-field genre hop of the album. Back on Vaxis I, Old Flames ran together Doo Wop and pop-punk. So It Goes is in the same ballpark, but seems to be aiming more for 1920s/30s music hall and pop-punk. As with lots of C&C's experiments, this is endearingly catchy once, but it would be a nightmare to have a full album of this. The final minute or so of this song is orchestral, playing out the album with some new melodies mixed with some more Afterman (e.g. Pretelethal) which will presumably link into whatever Vaxis IV will be. 

In some ways, this album is a disappointment. Vaxis II began the tilt away from prog and metal, and Vaxis III continues along that trend. The riffs and song structures are sufficiently complex to satisfy prog fans (though with very little odd time representation), but what is most progressive about this album is the variety of genres which are seamlessly switched between. It's not as overtly dancey or techno-ey as some of Vaxis II, and so musically sits somewhat between I and II, but with additional forays into previously untapped territory. Overall, it is a much more catchy and listenable album, and, possibly more importantly, a more consistent album. Vaxis I is overlong and has too much filler, and Vaxis II has a relatively forgettable middle chunk of songs. Even Vaxis III's least interesting songs (One Last Miracle, Corner My Confidence) have more staying power than what came before. Vaxis III isn't what I was hoping for next from C&C, but it is very good. Still, next time could they throw in some 7/8 please?