COHEED AND CAMBRIA RETURN TO THE AMORY WARS
New York proggers continue sci-fi concept series as frontman admits he was ready to call it quits.
Coheed And Cambria release Vaxis – Act 1: The Unheavenly Creatures via Roadrunner on October 5. The 78-minute album is the first part of a pentalogy that revisits the Amory Wars universe with a new storyline developed from 2007’s Good Apollo, Volume Two. It’s also available with a companion novella.
“I think the idea we’ve got right now is what Coheed And Cambria was supposed to be in 2002 but I was too young to make it that way,” reveals frontman Claudio Sanchez. “The comic books didn’t start until 2004 and it took a lot of maturing to realise this is how the story needs to be told.”
The 15-track album explores the relationship between two lovers faced with securing their unborn son’s future. Though it’s set in the world of science fiction, it also addresses some of Sanchez’s concerns on becoming a father four years ago.
“There’s a song on this record called The Pavilion. I wrote that in 2016 right after the creation of [2015’s non-concept album] The Color Before The Sun,” he says. “That song was originally about me leaving music, leaving the band and feeling this confusion of: is this really where I want to be now I’m a dad? Do I really want to sacrifice time with my son to go on the road? As time went on, I realised how lucky I am and grateful I am to be in this band so it was like a crossroads that I was at. I think that writing a song like Pavilion really allowed me to understand who I am and how important it was for me to continue this.”
Coheed released the 10-minute teaser The Dark Sentencer at the end of June and the frontman admits it’s “the longest, most progressive tune on the album, but I think the record in itself travels around a lot and that’s what makes it special. It’s very adventurous and there are a lot of places to go on the album. There are a lot of surprises.”
A deluxe edition of The Unheavenly Creatures is now available to pre-order via the band’s website. It comes with a bonus album of demos and a novella written by Sanchez and his wife, author Chondra Echert. To coincide with the release, Coheed And Cambria will play six shows in the UK this October with support from Chon. NRS
“It’s very adventurous and there are a lot of places to go on the
album.”