March the 14th sees the release of Coheed And Cambria’s latest album, “The Father Of Make Believe”, the eleventh in their storied history and one of their finest.
The album opens with “Yesterday’s Lost”, a ballad that starts with a piano solo before softly strummed guitars and an airy melody take over. Sanchez’s soothing vocals are a thing of beauty and enthrall you, it’s a brilliant track. “Goodbye, Sunshine” quickly dispels the soft opening with a pop-punk track that is full of energy: a kicking drum beat with crisp riffs, a nice little solo and Sanchez adding an edge to his vocals, a real anthemic feel to this one.
Opening with a quirky keyboard riff, “Searching For Tomorrow” continues to rock out with a more rigid feel to this one; the riffs are sharper, the drums a little heavier, and the distorted solo from Stever is a nice touch and adds to the vibe of the track. The title track, “The Father Of Make Believe”, starts with a cool riff and some uplifting vocalising before Sanchez comes in with his silky voice, complete with soaring melodies and a great backbeat of Eppard’s drums and Cooper’s bass. This is an amazing tune. There is something about “Meri Of Merci” that lures you in; from its gentle start to its rousing chorus, it just hits differently. This is one of the best tracks on the album. Doing a complete 360 is “Blind Side Sonny”, a raucous punk rocker that smashes you right in the face, distorted vocals, equally distorted guitars and an incessant drum beat to create a crushing number that bores into your brain. Killer tune.
“Play The Poet” walks a fine line between rock and nu metal, with its hip/hop style verses that play off nicely with the more rock style chorus’, more distortion on this than you can shake a strict at but it adds to the snarky angsty vibe. “One Last Miracle” has a ballad feel to it with a pop-punk kick, if that makes sense. Soft melodic verses make way for punchy choruses that soar; it’s hard to define this song as one thing or another, but one thing for sure is that it’s banging. The stripped-back ballad “Corner My Confidence” allows Sanchez to showcase his masterful voice with just a guitar to back him up, which is a true gem. “Someone Who Can” is a killer track. This has a nostalgic late ’80s early ’90s feel with The Eagles’ “The Boys Of Summer” springing to mind, a real toe-tapper with some great guitar work, a great song.
The final tracks are a four part epic entitled “The Continuum”, first up is “Welcome To Forever, Mr. Nobody” a rocker that has a sound of Avenged Sevenfold’s newer material, the rhythm is killer and the angst ridden verses are tempered by great melodic chorus’ all of which leads nicely into “The Flood”; another great track that is very much guitar led, with plenty of twists and turns as it goes from a ballad style opening to dark and haunting midsection before coming back out into the light as the song crescendos to a close. The third installment “Tethered Together” opens with a slow piano solo, as Sanchez comes in the song gathers pace and builds into an absolute cracker, crunching riffs, a thumping drum beat with a buzzing bass underneath it is all topped off by the ridiculously catchy chorus, one of the best tracks on here. “So It Goes” is the final part of “The Continuum” and the last track on the album; a quite stunning number that starts with a touch of 60s flair in the violins, airy guitars, synths and soaring vocals all of which change like the flick of a switch as it turns darker with a foreboding orchestral overture of cinematic quality that brings the album to a close.
An amazing album from the insanely creative mind of Claudio Sanchez and company, “The Father Of Make Believe” is out on the 14th of March.
Pre-order here:
Coheed And Cambria are:
Claudio Sanchez Vocals, guitar
Travis Stever Lead Guitar
Josh Eppard Drums
Zach Cooper Bass