Coheed and Cambria's 'A Window of the Waking Mind' - Album Review

For those of us who are fans of progressive rock, be it the classics from the genre's 1970s heyday or the huge amount of excellent bands that followed, a band like Coheed and Cambria always manage to elicit a smile. Whilst the band have never really sought to position themselves within the progressive rock world, instead wanting to align themselves more with alternative rock, emo, and even sometimes hardcore audiences, Coheed and Cambria's sound certainly contains many of the genre's classic hallmarks. All but one of the band's albums are sprawling concept albums, after all, which are all set in the same universe and tell stories around the ever-expanding lore of The Amory Wars, whilst their music is generally quite involving and complex - despite the presence of plenty of pop hooks. As a result, Coheed and Cambria have been embraced by many progressive rock fans - even if the band has never fully embraced the genre that they have so clearly been influenced by. That being said, though, Coheed and Cambria are not a pure progressive rock band - and all of those other scenes that I named-checked earlier, along with some good old-fashioned pop rock, have helped to inform the band's sound over the years. Listening to the band's earlier albums certainly showcases a heaviness and even an occasional metal edge that has largely been absent from their recent work - but everything that Coheed and Cambria have put out is unmistakably them. The band's sound has matured and evolved over the years, but the shift in tone towards a more polished, pop-orientated sound has been a natural and gradual one. This makes the band's catalogue a pleasant one to revisit - and the presence of the lengthy and complex concepts helps to add grandeur and intrigue to the band's knotty sound. Until a couple of months ago, though, it had been four years since the band last released an album. After taking a break from concept album territory in 2015 with The Color Before the Sun (which I reviewed here), the band returned to The Amory Wars in a big way with the epic, 80 minute The Unheavenly Creatures (which I also reviewed here) - which kickstarted a whole new saga within the band's sci-fi world. It was an album that took quite a few listens to digest, but from a songwriting perspective it was another winner that pushed the band's sound in a number of directions - from an occasional return to the heaviness of their early work to delicate, heartfelt ballads. The second instalment in this saga was released back in June, though, with A Window of the Waking Mind being unleashed onto the band's fanbase. Somewhat more svelte at a mere 53 minutes, the band's tenth studio album certainly feels less of a mammoth undertaking than The Unheavenly Creatures - but the overall sound and style of the 2018 release has been continued throughout the latest album. It definitely feels like an album that has benefitted from a bit of fat being trimmed away, though, and there is certainly more of an emphasis on pop hooks this time - with most of the songs here being under four minutes in length. The band's expansive sound is still very much present, though, thanks to Claudio Sanchez's distinct songwriting style and approach to vocal melodies.

The album opens with the short The Embers of Fire, an epic scene-setter with sprawling strings and the pounding drums of Josh Eppard. It starts slowly though, with the delicate vocals of Sanchez's son Atlas, but soon morphs into a percussive and expansive intro that sets the tone for what is to come - and it segues nicely into Beautiful Losers. Beautiful Losers is a classic-sounding modern Coheed and Cambria piece, which mixes soaring hooks with a slightly more melancholic feel. There is less of the driving hard rock that often characterises the band's sound, though, with the chorus exploding with a mid-paced, cinematic feel following slow-burning verses which are built on strong Eppard drum grooves and the off-kilter guitar playing of Sanchez and Travis Stever. This album contains a huge amount of soaring chorus hooks, and Beautiful Losers is the first of many. It is the sort of song that sticks in the brain after only a couple of listens - and the melodies throughout are extremely memorable, harking back to The Afterman era which was arguably the band at their most pop-orientated. Comatose ups the pace a bit, and injects some of the spiky rock edge that characterised the band's early days. The guitar melodies throughout the song are staccato in nature and they drive the song perfectly, creating a great bed for Sanchez's idiosyncratic vocal lines, whilst the rhythm section of Eppard and bassist Zach Cooper also make themselves felt with some standout moments. There are bass-led sections, which feature fluid melodies, whilst Eppard's bass drum work throughout is stellar. In fact, the song contains some of the album's most impressive drumming in general. Eppard is known for not using a double bass pedal, and his groove-based style is very much on display here. There are occasional explosions of virtuoso drumming, too, and they really elevate the song for me - enhancing the melodies perfectly. Shoulders then ups the heaviness somewhat, and returns to the slightly industrial sound of 2010's Year of the Black Rainbow. The overall approach to the song's sound is similar, with some strange effects sometimes being placed on Sanchez's voice - whilst the guitar tones definitely feel more processed. This approach works well, though, and a tortured guitar solo only enhances the industrial feel of the song further. A soaring chorus ensures that the piece still feels grounded within the album's core sound, though - and four tracks in it is amazing how much diversity has already been displayed. A Disappearing Act further widens the album's palette of sounds, too, by going for a full-on pop rock approach. Synths fill the song, and dancey grooves are created by the rhythm section - with a swing version of a four-on-the-floor beat mixing well with the band's usual guitar interplay and the strong keyboard presence. Given the song's overtly melodic nature, it is perhaps unsurprising that Sanchez's vocal melodies are extremely hooky - and the subtle use of autotune at times works to help blend his vocals with the synths, giving the song a complete feel.

Love Murder One opens slowly, and feels somewhat more reined in - given the explosion of sounds that has already been heard throughout the album. The song is still quite expansive and complex for its relatively short runtime, but it feels somewhat more laid back. That being said, though, Eppard's drumming is still busy and in-your-face. He is very high in the mix here, with his snappy bass drum patterns punching out of the gloom - heralding the arrival of the harder-hitting chorus which ups the heaviness slightly and incorporates a few old-school 1980s-esque guitar leads. The song is quite deceiving, then, as it is still a complex piece that, at times, masquerades as a song that is much more atmospheric. Blood is similar, and it opens slowly with Sanchez's delicate vocals backed by some staccato rhythms. Despite the band's typical drum grooves and a busy bass performance, the song is the most atmospheric and gentle of the album so far. The verses are more groove-based, but the guitars in general throughout are mixed into the background - and the choruses are even more stripped-back. The choruses find Sanchez essentially just singing against a synth backdrop, which allows his unique voice to shine - before the band then kick back in for another relatively punchy, yet still ethereal, verse. The Liars Club then returns to a more upbeat vibe - and the song is very typical of Coheed and Cambria's singles of the past. It does start relatively slowly, clearly segueing nicely from the atmospherics of the previous two songs, but once it gets going it is packed with pop-punk riffs, a driving hard rock energy, and spiky guitar melodies that are very much part of the band's trademark sound. Whilst Coheed and Cambria's sound has evolved over the years, this is a song that could have really sat on any of the band's previous albums without sounding out of place. It has a chorus which is very easy to latch onto, and the guitar playing throughout is technical - without it ever overshadowing the melodies. It is a song which I can see becoming a live staple going forward due to its pop hooks and upbeat vibe. Bad Man then returns to a more atmospheric sound, but the synths throughout have something of an industrial vibe - with drum programming crashing through the pulsing keyboards, over which Sanchez sings with an effects-heavy delivery. The song overall has quite a strange sound, and it is one that covers a lot of ground despite its short length. Big guitar leads often cut through the mix, adding a rock edge to the song's strange, synth-based sound - whilst the chorus is very bass-heavy, with a lumbering bassline driving everything. Despite this odd mix of sounds, the song still hangs together. It sounds quite different for the band, but it is still very much a Coheed and Cambria composition. Sanchez's approach to the vocal melodies is very typical of his style, and when Eppard's drums replace the programming his grooves help to define the movement of the melodies. Our Love then strips everything away, and creates something that is the closest thing that the album has to a ballad. The song is all about Sanchez's emotional, yet poppy, vocal delivery - which initially is set against a simple synth backing. The song is very short, at under three minutes in length, but it acts as a coda to the album's lengthy closing trilogy. Occasional piano melodies and pulsing drum programming add to the song when needed, but this is very much a piece that is based around the vocal hooks - and there is little else here to distract from the lyrics.

The album's final three songs up the complexity in terms of arrangements - and it definitely feels like the band have taken a bit of a trip back in time as a result. Ladders of Supremacy kicks off this closing suite, and the heaviness is immediately upped due to a barrage of guitar riffs that certainly showcases the band's love of a progressive melody. The knotty riffs early on set the tone for the album's closing sections, and you can feel the band moving through the gears as the song moves along. The guitars are very dominant here, and Sanchez also takes a different approach vocally, too. Whilst there are moments that feel poppy, especially during the mid-paced verses with their pulsing synths and groove-based drumming, there are moments that see him singing in the more aggressive style that he used to use much more liberally - with some brief sections that see him almost screaming. The song in general is much less overtly melodic, too. There are still hooks to be found, but this is a song that is more about creating a mood, injecting some heaviness into the album, and showcasing some excellent guitar playing. Both Sanchez and Stever often impress with their playing, but this is very much a piece that feels like it benefits from the busy and interlocking melodies of the two. Some of the riffs border on metal at times due to their heaviness, whilst other sections are pure prog thanks to the interweaving melodies of the guitars and the busy rhythm section. The song at some point segues perfectly into Rise, Naianasha (Cut the Cord), and the transition is so seamless that it is hard to tell that a new song has started. The tone does shift, though, as the heaviness of the previous song fades away somewhat, and the album's penultimate song instead feels like a more expansive version of the poppier tracks that were featured earlier on the album. As such, the song feels like a more progressive version of The Liars Club - and is another track that could have easily sat on any of the band's other albums. The riffing is busy again, but the melodies are much bigger this time - with a chorus that is packed full of explosive hooks. As such, the song is one of the album's overall highlights for me. It is great mix of pop and prog, which is the sound that has made the band has good as they have been over the years. The album then comes to a close with its title track, which is the longest piece here at over eight minutes in length. It is typical of the band's previous longer pieces, in that it is multi-part and varied - but it opens quite slowly, with acoustic guitars and a relatively simple arrangement. The song builds from this foundation, though, with strings and distant guitar leads joining the fray, before Eppard joins in with a drum barrage and the piece expands significantly with heroic guitar leads, heavier riffs, and some narration. The song moves back and forth between heavier, spiky moments which feature some classic Coheed and Cambria guitar melodies and gentle sections that feature delicate piano lines and less of an expansive sound. As is typical, though, the song hangs together well. Sanchez's songwriting always manages to make the disparate parts of the band's sound work together - and the album's title track is another epic-length piece that works well despite its variety, even as it reprises melodies from the album's intro. As such, A Window of the Waking Mind is another excellent and varied album from Coheed and Cambria that contains a number of short, memorable songs that build up to an expansive and epic ending suite that is up there with some of their best longer form pieces from the past. It is an album that flows seamlessly and flies by as a result, and in time it will probably be seen as one of their best works.

The album was released on 24th June 2022 via Roadrunner Records. Below is the band's promotional video for The Liars Club.