Originally named Shabutie (with two EPs behind them),
New York's Coheed And Cambria, fronted by vocalist-guitarist Claudio Sanchez,
carried out a historical fusion of the progressive-rock tradition and
the emo-core tradition on their debut album,
The Second Stage Turbine Blade (Equal Vision, 2002).
Travis Stever (guitar), Michael Todd (bass), Josh Eppard (drums)
and Dave Parker (keyboards) coadiuvate the leader in his insane
endeavours:
extended tracks with odd time signatures, convoluted ballads with fiery
guitars, anthemic instrumental crescendos and everything in between.
Sanchez's shrill girlish vocals invented the melody of
Time Consumer, featuring Dr Know of Bad Brains on hard-rock guitar, and Hearshot Kid Disaster and Neverender, songs that seem to have been created as instrumental pieces.
Only the driving and cohesive Devil In Jersey City and
the poignant and haunting Delerium Trigger resemble the traditional
song format.
Alas, the longer track, Godsend Conspirator (13:45), was also the
weakest (five minutes of indiscriminate bombast, then a sleepy coda).
This "second stage" turned out to be the first installment in a
sci-fi tetralogy about two characters, Coheed and Cambria.
In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3 (Equal Vision, 2003) starts with
the majestic piano melody that closed Second Stage.
The eight-minute In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth stresses the
fundamental dialectics of the band: the shrill verbose emotional vocalist
versus the cool fractured heavy riffs versus the
casual syncopated drumming.
The virtuoso dynamics of The Crowing show off the band's uncanny
ability to stretch drama into an almost supernatural dimension.
The three-movement gothic fantasia Camper Velourium runs the gamut from
folkish hard-rock reminiscent of Jethro Tull (first movement) to almost hysterical death-metal (third movement).
The nine-minute closer, The Light And the Glass, begins as a
pastoral acoustic ballad with flute and transitions smoothly into a
denser and denser power-ballad.
Blood Red Summer,
A Favor House Atlantic and especially Three Evils Embodied In Love And Shadow are essays on how music can sound poppy and ponderous at the same time.
Both bombastic and demonic, this is indeed music for the renaissance after
the apocalypse.
A crisper production increased the similarity with
Rush on
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness (Sony, 2005).
Another infectious tune, The Suffering, plus Keeping the Blade
and a few other entertaining moments eclipsed the ambitions of the
30-minute four-movement suite The Willing Well.
Coheed's vocalist Claudio Sanchez launched a solo side project,
Prize Fighter Inferno, with
My Brother's Blood Machine (2006), another complex and eclectic
sci-fi concept that provides the story of the "Blood Machine", a prequel to
the story of the "Amory Wars" (as told in previous Coheed and Cambria albums).
No World for Tomorrow (2007), subtitled
"Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star, IV, Volume Two",
the final installment of the saga (in which the world ends and everyone dies),
largely failed to capitalize on the story, delivering at best mild melodramas
such as Feather. It all sounds terribly amateurish.
Josh Eppard quit the band and joined again the band of his brother Joey,
3, that had debuted with Paint by Number (1999) and now
released The End Is Begun (2007), while composing the music
for the hip-hop act Weerd Science that had debuted with
Friends and Nervous Breakdowns (2005).
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Arianna Giusti)
Originariamente chiamatisi Shabutie (con due Ep alle spalle), i newyorkesi Coheed and Cambria, capeggiati dal cantante-chitarrista Claudio Sanchez, nel loro album di debutto The Second Stage Turbine Blade (Equal Vision, 2002) hanno messo in atto una storica fusione tra la tradizione progressive-rock e quella emo-core. Travis Stever (chitarra), Michael Todd (basso), Josh Eppard (batteria) and Dave Parker (tasiere) appoggiano il leader nei suoi folli sforzi: tracce prolungate con tempi dispari, attacchi orecchiabili e striduli accompagnamenti vocali. Il pezzo d’apertura Time Consumer, con Dr Know dei Bad Brains alla chitarra, e la terrificante Delirium Trigger sono rappresentative. Ma un cattivo segno è rappresentato dalla traccia più lunga, God Send Conspirator (13:45 min.), che è anche la più debole. Si è concluso quello che è il primo capitolo del"secondo atto"di una fantascientifica tetralogia che ha come protagonisti due personaggi, Coheed and Cambria.
In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3 (Equal Vision, 2003) inizia con la melodia al piano che conclude Second Stage. Gli otto minuti di In Keeping secrets Of Silent Earth e le virtuose dinamiche di The Crowing mostrano le straordinarie abilità della band a comporre drammi ambientati in una dimensione soprannaturale. A Favor House Atlantic (che è anche il singolo) e specialmente Three Evils Embodied In Love And Shadow sono prove di come la musica può divenire affascinante e minacciosa allo stesso tempo. Entrambi gli album magniloquenti e demoniaci, la loro musica è la colonna sonora per la rinascita dopo l’apocalisse.
Una produzione più decisa e rapida ha incrementato la similitudine con i Rush (per loro che non hanno mai ascoltato i Moody Blues) in Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness (Sony, 2005). Un’altra melodia contagiosa, The Suffering, più Keeping The Blade e alcuni altri bei momenti superano le ambizioni di una sequenza di quattro parti di 30 minuti complessivi, The Willing Well.
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