Coheed and Cambria

Coheed and Cambria are an artistic force whose strength ventures far beyond music. Since the 90s, they maintained their reputation as an evolving progressive rock band as well as gaining in popularity with their successful comic book series, written by lead singer Claudio Sanchez.

Currently Down Under, after recently releasing their two-part album, The Afterman: Ascension and The Afterman: Descension, Sanchez says the albums were written and created together and based around the story of Sirius Amory, the main character of the comic book series which features in the lyrics of the band’s powerhouse rock.

“Ascension and Descension were sort of written together. Ascension is really in terms of the concept, very much about Sirius’ ascension, literal ascension, up to the Keywork to discover what the value of this energy source,” Sanchez describes “essentially [its] the gravity around the colony that the story takes place on, exactly what the energy source’s value is. That is sort of what the first one is [about].”

The follow-up, Descension, he says, is “very much about that outcome and in Amory’s actions, he basically lost his life. He is literally descending, you know, or metaphorically descending in terms of the state of wellbeing. So, that’s pretty much what these records are.”

“One sort of poses the questions and the other one sort of answers them”, he adds, summing up the connection between the two albums.

For listeners, Sanchez wants them to experience the albums how they want, whether it is separately or as a whole – with or without their dense narrative. “I felt Ascension sort of posed that sonic cliffhanger that Descension could follow up. For me, I think it’s really about the listener…” – Claudio Sanchez

“I felt Ascension sort of posed that sonic cliffhanger that Descension could follow up. For me, I think it’s really about the listener, how they want to experience these albums. They can totally experience them as two separate experiences or as one whole. It’s really up to them,” he notes.

The albums come after a two year wait since their 2010 release, Year Of The Black Rainbow and contain as many years’ worth of songwriting, while Sanchez lived in New York and out of the city. Both albums, he explains, draw on personal experiences from himself as well as the Amory Wars storyline.

“After I finished writing most of the record, I decided, now I sort of see the thread that is happening in these albums, so that’s when I transformed it into a concept,” Sanchez says.

The Afterman saga also saw the return of original drummer, Josh Eppard, who was part of the band’s lineup when they began recording in 2001, six years after their inception. For Sanchez, the return of Eppard brought a fresh sense of “enthusiasm” to the band. “It’s like we genuinely feel we want to be doing this.”

“There’s this general enthusiasm for each other that hasn’t been happening so it’s really cool” says the singer. “The band is warming up together, the band is hanging out together… and it hasn’t been happening in the recent history of the band.”

Not, only was the album unique in its reuniting of the original members, it also was a creative project that Coheed and Cambria funded themselves. Sanchez says that the decision to self-fund stemmed from disliking the “monotonous” routine that he felt came with the repetition of the recording and touring schedule.

The new writing experience, Sanchez, notes was “comfortable.”

“I think that allowed for a comfortable writing atmosphere, certainly for the material. There was no agenda, I started writing not for anything in particular and by the time you know it, there’s two albums worth of material and we had The Afterman,” he declares.

“We found, we’ve got the money, why not? Why don’t we try and do it ourselves?” says Sanchez.

While the self-funded album allowed for creative freedom in writing, Sanchez admits there are expectations and pressures when a band that has been around since 1995 releases a new album.

“I guess there’s always pressure in everything you do, but you try not to think about it,” he reasons. “I try not to make it become a factor.” “music is a very sonic thing, it’s all about that sensory… [but] these comics are a way to translate what your sonic experience is supposed to be.” – Claudio Sanchez

For the band, the Australian tour will allow them to bring their live show, which has been described as ‘hypnotic’, to an audience they rarely get to perform for. For dedicated fans, Sanchez promises a “nice well rounded set of a lot of material.”

“We don’t really come down to Australia all that often so we’ll try to incorporate as many songs from the band’s discography,” the singer confirms.

The live performances, Sanchez reflects, are based around the narrative themes of the Amory Wars. “I wanted to create a thread, to sort of glue it together” he says, also commenting on the amount of planning that goes into the visual elements which enhance the band’s performances.

“I’m just looking forward to playing the shows, having a good time, bringing the message to some new faces,” tells Sanchez excitedly.

The band also recently announced last year that on top of their current touring schedule, the Amory Wars comic books are being turned into a feature film, to be produced by Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson of Leverage Productions.

For Sanchez, the film – besides from being an honour to have actor Whalberg involved – will continue to extend the visual elements of the band’s music. “The thing about Coheed and Cambria, the music for me is like… I always envison so much,” he says with exasperation.

“When I listen to music, when I create the music, it always stimulates this imagery so I’m always thinking about what the comic books look like and what other stuff can sort of look like,” Sanchez says.

He noted that the movies are another way to show the listeners and fans what the music literally looks like from the band and Sanchez’s perspective.

“I mean music is a very sonic thing, it’s all about that sensory. It’s about your ears, but like with Coheed, these comics are a way to translate what your sonic experience is supposed to be,” he explains.

“This is what the music actually looks like.”

The Afterman: Ascension (review here) and The Afterman: Descension (review here) are out now through V2/Co-Op Records. Coheed And Cambria’s Australian Tour kicks off tonight at Brisbane’s Tivoli, before heading to Sydney and Melbourne. Dates and details below.