Coheed and Cambria’s “The Afterman”

In true System of a Down fashion, Coheed and Cambria have released a double album, “the Afterman,” over the course of a few months.

The first part, “Ascension,” was released last November and it achieved critical acclaim. The second part, which came this week, is a different story.

“Descension” may not have the classic Coheed tunes of 2007s “Good Apollo,” or the raw taste of “Second Stage Turbine Blade,” but it has some shining moments, as well as weak moments.

The best: as always, Coheed delivers a strong melodic and rhythmic maze. Claudio Sanchez hits every note more powerfully than ever, Travis Steever is no nonsense with leads, Zach Cooper’s bass playing is tight and adds greatly to the sound, and Josh Eppard’s rejoining has the two most recent albums sounding classic.

As most Coheed and Cambria fans are cultured in, each album follows the story of the Amory Wars, and the Keywork of planets that are found above Planet Earth. This album puts listeners inside the shoes of our main character, Sirius Amory, as he descends from the Keywork, tired and broken.

The track “Away We Go” is powerful, uplifting, and something to sing loudly to. “Dark Side of Me” is, in my opinion, the best track on the album.

It is dynamic, honest, and to the point. It is catchy, as well as musically tight. It has the makings of a Coheed classic. It is angry and redemptive at the same time. If you’re going through a breakup, I recommend giving this one a listen. If it’s your wedding, I recommend this be played at the reception.

However, the album does fall short in some ways. “The Hard Sell,
which was the first single off the album, is not lyrically brilliant, and sounds a little too close to Rush’s “Moving Pictures.”

One more track that I disliked was “Number City,” which bordered on repetitive and rushed.

“Pretelethal,” the opening track, follows the slow tradition of “Always and Never,” but sounds messy. The track features the use of a ukulele, as well as multiple layers of keys, but fails on vocals. This is one of the few times I can say I did not enjoy one of Sanchez’s vocal performances.

Overall, the album is worthy of 7.5 out of 10. While it was truly memorable, it did not meet the grace of previous albums.