Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis ACt I: The Unheavenly Creatures

Coheed and Cambria
Vaxis ACt I: The Unheavenly Creatures
2018
Spotify

You can always count on Coheed and Cambria to go their own way when recording an album. They love to tell fantastical sci-fi fantasy stories with their particular version of prog rock. IN 2015 the band took a break from the space opera that they had been working on for years and years to release a highly personal album. The results were ok, but on this album the band feel reinvigorated. The music is bolder, the story just as complex and wild as ever and it could not come at a better time for Rock and Roll. SO much music from this genre has felt stale and like nothing more than a rehash. How many fucking songs can we hear about going out and having a good time, people have literally been using the same tropes for over sixty years. Choeed and Cambria try something new, something different and boy oh boy does it work. There is obviously some suspension of disbelief that needs to happen when listening to any Coheed record. It's not often in popular music that we get detailed rock operas that take us on highs and lows and everywhere in between. The band go on to reference previous records like Second Stage Turbine Blade on the track "Old Flames" and the phenomenal "Toys" bringing back the vibes of In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. The story is fun as it is, but even absent the swirling intrigue of the Armory Wars story line the music still cooks like something from The Mars Volta or Rush. They are so good making songs feel incredibly epic and having them carry more weight than they might in the hands of lesser artists.

The thing about this record is that it is A LOT of music. It feels like Coheed have had this all pent up for awhile and are only now able to push this massive release. At almost two hours long you have to strap yourself in for a journey, but it never drags or gets repetitive. Every song is over five minutes, which is usually a hard stop for me, but on The Unheavenly Creatures I never want them to end. Coheed and Cambria have really managed to recapture the emotion and energy that made their first few record so fucking exciting, and it is wonderful to hear them bringing that vibe through to 2018. The band also aren't afraid to experiment with electronics and different productions. It gives the record this wide open feel like it can go anywhere or do anything at the drop of a hat. When the instrumentation gets more complex the music thrives putting layer upon layer of greatness right on top of each other. It is great to hear the band this exuberant and this into what they are doing again. This record has me so excited to see them live again, it truly is a real deal comeback for a band that deserves it.

8.5 out of 10