Coheed and Cambria- In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3
Before you read this, be advised that you MUST read the whole review, and not just fragments, to fully understand what I’m talking about. Otherwise, you will be perplexed, as well as running into a few spoilers.
A concept album is a very unique production. It takes a lot of intrigue, imagination, and allegiance to create music involving a plot, characters, and basically, a fictional world made through melody. As music advances today, concept albums are becoming much more predominant in the industry. But one mere concept album is an entirely different story from what Coheed and Cambria are venturing into. Coheed is a band whose music entirely revolves around one story, blending sounds alternative rock, mixed with pop melodies, and progressive-like structures, giving the band a very distinct sound to create a fantasy narrative. The science fiction tale is being written by lead singer/ guitarist Claudio Sanchez is writing. And after 3 albums so far, the story has not ended, and shows absolutely no signs of coming to a close anytime soon. This review takes an in depth look at their second album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3 ( I’ll use the acronym IKSSE), their second of the three, and the most ‘progressive’ of the bunch. Between the long song lengths, and the separate movements, you’d agree- this band is unlike anything else out there right now. Fortunately for you readers, I have gained knowledge of what is actually happening in the story, so I won’t be feeding you BS of the tale. In both aspects- musical, and narrative, this is by far one of the most creative experiments I’ve witnessed in music. And after a few listens (as well as getting used to Claudio’s high pitched voice), you’ll be thinking the same thing.
To clear things up, when I mention Claudio, I mean the main character in the story, not the musician, unless I state otherwise. Way to go and write yourself into the story, Claudio. Other characters include Newo Ikkin (the girlfriend) , Al (hitman), Coheed and Cambria ( the parents of Claudio), Jesse (Claudio’s uncle), the Red Army (villain) and Claudio’s siblings (Matthew, Maria, and Josephine).
As insight, the overall plot of the story is Claudio attempting to kill his cursed father, Coheed, who went savage and killed his family, including his children, excluding Claudio. Cambria, the mother and wife, was killed as well. On Claudio’s quest, he encounters numerous roadblocks. But it’s what happened in the first record that is of importance. Seems Claudio made a call to a hitman. But it’s not the hitman who can kill Coheed.
(fade in Star Wars music)
The Dream…..
A phone is ringing, loudly, and a woman proceeds to answer it. This is the beginning of ‘Ring in Return’. What will surprise you is who is calling, and who is answering. The caller is a man named Al, who I will eventually touch up on later in the review. The woman is Newo Ikkin, the main character, Claudio’s girlfriend. After she answers, there is a deadened silence before an orchestral arrangement that was heard on the previous record makes a cameo. They piece of classical music is short lived though..
“Hello, Apollo. Where Should I Begin?”
The title track ‘IKSSE:3’ boasts a lovely arpeggiated guitar harmony for about a minute. The band follows up afterward, creating a wall of sound that is meant to create an epic war scene. And that’s what these next two songs are about. The ‘dream’ I am referring to up a bit is Claudio’s dream about the war that his Jesse, his uncle had fought to protect the earth, and was wounded in. The lyrics provoke very epic imagery. ‘Man your own jackhammer. Man your battle stations. We’ll have you dead pretty soon.’ are the more memorable of lyrics and are direct orders from Jesse. The voice is perfectly fitting for such a song, and even if you hate Claudio’s (the singer) voice, you’ll realize that this song wouldn’t be as good as it is without it. At nearly 8 minutes, ‘IKSSE:3’ isn’t the speediest of listens, but will prove to be thoroughly enjoyable. ‘Cuts Marked in the March of Men’ follows the exact same guidelines as its predecessor, but a little less lengthy, and more riff oriented. Still is in the dream, but it’s getting a bit gorier this time around.
Jesse is wounded, and captured by the Red Army, as we stumble upon ‘Three Evils’. This is a more pop-oriented melody. The chorus is too catchy for its own good. ‘Three Evils’ tells the tale of Mayo, who is the commander of the Red Army, torturing Jesse. The dark lyrics, such as ‘Dear my friends, in the time we’ve spent in forever…..when will our nightmare ever end?’ encompass the tortured ambience of the song. Claudio’s voice is a bit on the squeakier side, but I have grown used to it and cannot complain. The riffs are never boring, giving a nod to pop punk hooks, but maintaining their own rock status. And the chorus is catchy as hell, but the lyrics can be misleading. “Pull the trigger and the nightmare stops” is not propaganda for suicide, but is Jesse’s cry to Mayo to kill him, rather than be tortured.
Wake up, Claudio
Claudio finally awakens from his dream on ‘The Crowing’. The title refers to the monster that Claudio was cursed by his parents to become at the minute of 21:13. A messenger named Ambellina informs Claudio of this status, that he must kill Coheed, and Claudio breaks down in a reality flash. Musically, this is one of the best songs on the album. The guitar duels that resemble thrash metal, mixed with very light percussion and a subtle voice chanting ‘But you, you were my favorite.’ are all just benefiting factors. This is one of the strongest songs on the album, up there with the title track and the Camper Velorium trilogy. The pinch harmonics are put to great use in this song, and the frequent tempo changes make for an interesting listen.
‘Blood Red Summer’ was a single, and most people familiar with Coheed and Cambria have heard this song. With lightly palm muted guitars, and a bouncy bassline, ‘Blood Red Summer’ is arguably the poppiest song on the album, and Claudio Sanchez’s voice is a bit too harsh and shrill. The one catchy aspect of this song, though, is the background screams of ’Hey! Hey!’ and Claudio’s trademark Woah oh’ chant. The lyrics are on the lighter side, with phrases like ‘If the answer that you want is in the question that you state, come what may.’ What remains to be said, however, is what the song means. It is really a meeting conversation between Claudio and Jesse. ‘Thin white figures paint my sleep’ is Claudio’s dream-related reference to the visions he had of Jesse. Claudio is reluctant and doubtful of his fate. He is not willing to be a reluctant hero by killing his father, and Jesse is supportive. By now you’ve heard this song, and while it isn’t the best, but not a bad enough song to turn people off.
Hello, Al
The Velourium Camper Trilogy begins with ‘Faint of Hearts’. This moderately paced, riff-driven song is about Al and his love for his firearm, as well as the first encounters with Newo, Jesse, and Claudio. Claudio Sanchez’s voice is very good, but I wish the music was a little bit more dominant in the mix. His voice is just too loud. The lyrics relate to both situations, as ‘ Holding your neck in my arms and wanting to feel my squeeze.’ relates to both his liking for Newo as well as his love for his gun. The chorus of ‘So I bid to you, good night, sleep tight, my love/gun.’ really showcases Al’s problems. Personally, as intriguing as this song is, I find it to be the weakest of the trilogy. Nothing more.
‘Backend of Forever’ is a neo-classical progressive song with a very eerie riff, and some psychotic lyrics. It furthers Al’s liking of Newo, to the point where he loves her, but she resists. Al is going off the deep end, slowly. ‘You had your turn, and you made it burn. Now I’m the laughing stock.’ Claudio’s voice is eerie, sort of deep, but what is unique is that this is the first time he screams on the album. As well as special voicing, another great aspect is the guitar playing. Between the horrifying main riff, and the mimicking guitar leads, it just seems about perfect, down to the subtle piano melody that ends this song.
Chaos is unleashed, figuratively speaking of course, in ‘Al the Killer’. Newo’s rebuttal of Al’s love has drove him mad, to the point where he tries to kill her. This being the darkest of the three chapters in the trilogy, it makes sense that the band would add something to make it sound really creepy. And they do. Besides the sputtering guitar that drives the breakout, Claudio’s voice has an overdubbed ‘growl’ below it. Everything he says is simultaneously growled out by an overdubbed voice of himself. The only exception is the chorus, where the lyrics of Al’s breakdown scream of him attempting to kill Newo. ‘ When I kill her, I’ll have her. Die white girls, die white girls!’ This character is by far the scariest on the album, and after one listen to this song, you’ll see why. The growling effect is simply ominous.
The Velourium Camper trilogy is a three piece rock opera telling the tale of Claudio’s journey with Newo and Jesse to go meet Al. Claudio had hired Al to kill Coheed, but now he has realized his destiny and goes to the Velourium Camper , Al’s ship, to tell him the news. To provide insight into Al’s character- He is a psychopathic hitman who has sudden outbursts and tantrums. He develops deep feelings spontaneously and when they are disagreed with is when he explodes. He is NOT an enemy, even after his attempt to kill Newo, but rather a helpless little schizo. Claudio actually hires him to take them all to House Atlantic to keep safe from any danger. But on the way, they confront Mayo’s Red Army.
Good eye, sniper…
‘Favor House Atlantic’ is the chase between the Red Army and Claudio and Al. While Al took the group to their favor in House Atlantic to seek safety, they engaged in a chase from Mayo and his minions. Al was supposed to drop them all off. But after the chase begins, Claudio asks Al to come with him, leaving Newo and Jesse behind (recall the footsteps that brought us to this favor, I wouldn’t ask this of you.) This song is merely a conversation between Claudio and Al. Al is a marksman, so he provides cover fire for Claudio to escape, which provides the lines ‘Good eye sniper, I’ll shoot, you run.’ and ‘Run quick, they’re behind us, didn’t think we’d ever make it.’ The musical properties of this song can be compared to “Blood Red Summer”, but in my opinion, better. The guitar riff is much better, but the vocals are still snot nosed and nasal. You’ll have to hear the poppy melody to judge for yourself. Poppy doesn’t mean bad, however. This song is quite good, in my opinion.
‘The Light and the Glass’ is a nine and a half story of Claudio reading Newo’s unexpected (and uninvited, for that matter) letter. Newo asks to part ways with Claudio forever, because when he left from House Atlantic, too few words were spoken, and it was uneasy for her. She asks to never see him again. While this is the most sensitive part of the story, this song is a pain in the you-know-what to listen to. While the music is good, with acoustic flashes and electric melodies, the pace is too dragged out and slow moving. It’s too boring to be that enjoyable. But nonetheless, the talent of the instrumentalists is present. A mediocre track, in my opinion, and an unsuitable ending.
Secret Track-
‘21:13’ is a nearly ten-minute suite that comes after the silence of the sequence, ‘A Lot of Nothing parts I- XI.’ The riffing is quite nice, but once again, too bland for ten minutes. The bass playing is notable, though, as is the story behind it. 21:13 refers to the time that Coheed vowed to kill his children, as they were cursed with a monstrous disease. Coheed had reamed Josephine to death, and Claudio had witnessed it all. Quite disturbing, I’d say. This song is way too long for its own good, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt, by redeeming it with excellent musicianship. Take a listen, just to see, though.
As you can see, there is a lot more to Coheed and Cambria’s music than meets the eye (and ear). Claudio Sanchez’s storyline is complex to the bare bone, and seems to have no ending. But in addition to a creative plot, Coheed and Cambria combine complex structures, great musicianship, and unique styles into their musical narrative, blowing the term ‘concept album’ way out of proportion.
Overall: 4/5
CoCa are
Claudio Sanchez- Vocals, guitar, all story elements
Travis Stever- Lead Guitar
Mike Todd- Bass
Joshua Eppard- Percussion
