A rock band making a straight forward rock record is not a notable event, but when it comes to prog rockers Coheed & Cambria straying away from their well-established canon, it might just be the most notable thing they’ve ever done.
Coheed & Cambria are well-established in the musical world now with a legion of fans not only interested in the quartet’s intense and evolving sound, but also the intricate world they’ve created through their music. Since 2002, each of the band’s records has been an installment in the ongoing story of The Amory Wars, with the lyrics narrating an epic space struggle that features husband and wife Coheed & Cambria Kilgannon pitted against the dark tri-mage Wilhelm Ryan. It’s a compelling sci-fi saga that’s played out over seven non-linear records as well as a comic book series published through Evil Ink and one that has helped Coheed & Cambria truly distance themselves from their equally talented contemporaries. Still, as rich and rewarding as that saga has been for the band, there is more music to be made than that based in the fictional world of Heaven’s Fence.
In October, the band released The Color Before The Sun, their eighth record overall, but first that does not continue the story of The Amory Wars. Fans were eager to hear not only what Coheed And Cambria would sound like away from the space epic, but also find out just what prompted this move and what it means moving forward.
“At first, I wasn’t even sure it would be a Coheed album when I was writing it,” frontman and Amory Wars mastermind Claudio Sanchez revealed. “I thought maybe it would be a solo project, but I didn’t want to put restrictions on what Coheed is about and what we could do as a band. I think, for me, I was most excited about releasing Coheed from limitations, and approaching the record in the most organic way possible.” It was interesting to hear Sanchez talk about those restrictions and limitations. The band owes much of their success to their ability to draw in sci-fi fans to their music, but at some point, it begins to handcuff your musical aspirations, especially as more and more time goes by. It makes it almost necessary to release a noncanonical album. “I didn’t want to be bound by [The Amory Wars], although that is an integral part of our story.”
Still, Sanchez admitted that he wasn’t actively trying to write something not tied to a story. “I wrote because I was inspired by the events happening in my own life. I was going through some big things, and that was the driving force. I felt like this time in my life with my son, Atlas, being born and everything else that was going on – it was such an important time that I wanted to share it, in the most honest way possible. This record, I wrote from my own situation at the time, and put it all out there.”
Just like a band shying away from a decade long established sound, it was daunting for the band to approach a piece of work without a grand concept. As natural as the process was for the band, Sanchez did admit that they were cautious in the beginning. “It was really something that came about organically. We recorded the record live, and there was some trepidation, but as soon as we laid down ‘Island’ in the studio, the trepidation turned into excitement. It clicked for us.” Helping this along was acclaimed producer Jay Joyce who the band had never worked with before and really helped push the band into a new identity so-to-speak. “The opportunity to work with Jay Joyce was a new approach, and was really exciting for us.” For a prog-rock band wanting to shed their epic sound for a more straight forward approach, there was really no better choice than a producer like Joyce who’s worked with artists from punk rockers FIDLAR to country heavyweights Keith Urban.
Despite the different voice behind the scenes and a new sound, it’s not a record that desperately abandons all that made the band great. “What ties everything together is that it’s a Coheed record,” Sanchez remarked and he’s right. The lyrical flow, the song structures, and even the overall energy of the record is unmistakably Coheed & Cambria, even as the band becomes as catchy as they’ve ever been. It’s enough of a departure to allow Sanchez and his bandmates a sense of control over their music, but in a way that won’t scare away their fans, known collectively as Children Of The Fence. In fact, it may even attract more fans with an introduction to the spirit that really embodies what Coheed & Cambria is about, whether it’s talking about an monumental planetary battle or the lyrical feeling of a family addition. It’s enough to give new legs to the band and cements the fact that Coheed & Cambria have plenty to offer musically long after The Amory Wars conclude.
Coheed & Cambria play The National tonight with Highly Suspect opening as part of XL102’s Miracle On Broad Street 2015. Doors are 6:30pm and tickets are still available for $28. For more information on the show, click here.
