Coheed & Cambria - Afterman: The Ascension

Nyack, New York's finest prog rock legends Coheed & Cambria are back at it again with an all new studio effort titled Afterman: The Ascension. The follow up to 2010's Year of the Black Rainbow finds the big haired rockers continuing their storyline theme that they dabbled with in their prior ventures before this disc, and this one serves as a continuation of The Amory Wars storyline and focuses on the character named Sirius Amory while giving fans a satisfying and complete listening experience.

The disc kicks off with "The Hollow", a precursor to all of the dynamic musical shifts that are about to occur with a series of distorted voices speaking in the background that almost sounds like three people talking at once that gives you a general idea of what to expect on the rest of the album to come. "Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute" is an epic, built up track that shows off the vocal power of frontman Claudio Sanchez with an ambush of dual toned guitar riffs and a fast paced, frenetic charge that sets the pace of the album pretty quickly. "Mothers of Men" is a epic, wailing rocker with Claudio's distinct vocal persona lending a hand to a gritty, prog heavy track that is easy to follow along and makes sure that you don't get lost in the shuffle here.

The second half of the disc begins with "Key Entity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked" an angry, no holds barred rocker that shows off a fierce and undeterred side of the band that we haven't seen on display before this effort, but is a welcome change nonetheless. "Key Entity Extraction III: Vic the Butcher" features much of the same musical tonalities as the prior track, but features more toned down lyricism and still potent guitar riffs amped up with such veracity that it becomes almost a little bit too much to handle at times. We venture into the disc's final two tracks with "Key Entity Extraction IV: Evagria the Faithful", my personal favorite track off the disc that features shifting musical arrangements along with Claudio's masterful vocal work doing their thing once again and a barrage of simple structured guitar riffs that grab ahold of you almost instantaneously, plus some neat drumwork that when heard all put together, best encapsulates the sound that Coheed set out to accomplish in the first place. "Subtraction" ends it all here with a whispering, toned down track that concludes much like the same way it began with Claudio's whispering vocal power bridging the gap between the beginning and middle portions of the album, and ties it all up like a pretty bow with another exciting and thrilling adventure in the ongoing Armory Wars series. It's not too often that we encounter a band that is able to so eloquently and so successfully put together a storybook series, and combine that with the elements of brilliant lyricism and thunderous guitar riffs that when put together, tell a brilliant and well thought out musical storyline that is unlike anything currently out there today.

In summary, another well accomplished musical mission from Coheed and Cambria, who have lent a helping hand in shaping the way we listen to music by allowing us to escape into a rapturous musical storyline that bridges the gap between art and fantasy at the same time, while allowing us to act out a musical fantasy that is like a picture book of sorts that is unlike anything you've ever experienced before.

                                                                                                                                Album Score: 3.5/5

Track Listing:

1. The Hollow
2. Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute
3. The Afterman
4. Mothers of Men
5. Goodnight, Fair Lady
6. Key Entity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked
7. Key Entity Extraction III: Vic the Butcher
8. Key Entity Extraction IV: Evagria the Faithful
9. Subtraction