It took me a long time to come around to liking Coheed and
Cambria. I admit that I never really gave the band much of a chance, with Claudio
Sanchez’s extremely high vocal range (à la Geddy Lee) always turning me off.
However, after the continued suggestions of a good friend, I finally gave the
band a solid listen, and can safely say that I am now a fan of their merger of progressive
rock and post-hardcore.
I have been listening to their 2nd album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, a
lot this past week, and while I don’t think it is quite on par with The Second Stage Turbine Blade, it is
still a very enjoyable album. While the album if filled with memorable songs, I
think that “The Crowing” is probably my favorite.
Be sure to catch Coheed and Cambria on tour this February in
support of the 2nd part of their double album, The Afterman. And to make the prospect of the tour even better, the
excellent instrumental rock/metal band Russian Circles is opening for them!
It is good you are expanding your listening, the voice is kind of hard to get over but at least you can read comic books while listening!
ReplyDeleteTo me, Coheed has always been a less sinister, less intricate, more digestible version of the Mars Volta. Both bands kind of have this story arc to their albums (Coheed on a discographic level, whereas Volta on a per album level), but the Volta's is much darker and creepier. Additionally they both have leads with high and sometimes almost piercing vocal registers (Cedric Bixler-Zavala). I never really got around to investigating Coheed, but maybe sooner is better than later!
ReplyDeleteI have been told numerous times to give the Mars Volta a try (I hear that they just broke up...). But, I never really gave them a chance. Much like with Coheed, the high pitched vocals turned me away. The science fiction space opera that Coheed and Cambria is trying to tell is extremely overwrought, and could be a turn off to some listeners. I can tell you that having some knowledge of what Claudio is singing about did not help me enjoy the songs more. He he.
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