Coheed And Cambria – The Father Of Make Believe | Album Review

As progressive emo titans Coheed And Cambria reach the halfway point of their latest arc, the New York four piece prove that sticking to the hits sometimes pays off.

Hitting their stride in the early noughties, Coheed and Cambria have proven themselves as one of the emo genre’s most consistent acts for over two decades with their unique blend of  prog rock experimentation and pop inspired post-hardcore hooks. Now, on their latest dive into their carefully crafted science fiction universe, the east coast quartet, led by frontman Claudio Sanchez alongside guitarist Travis Stever, bassist Zach Cooper and drummer Josh Eppard, show that they’re just as in touch with their roots as they are rocketing into the future.

While the beats of the average Coheed album should feel like second nature to their dedicated fans, the details have been honed down to a fine point for a unique twist on The Father Of Make Believe. As with any era spanning epic the album opens with a brief recap of the band’s history up to this point with the subtly self-referential opening track ‘Yesterday’s Lost’, beginning the album with a gentle lone piano melody which incorporates the recurring theme of the Good Apollo era, heard predominantly in ‘Keeping The Blade’, before seamlessly transitioning into a synth-tinged acoustic ballad this track provides a juicy piece of bait to reel in returning fans. Coheed’s ability to refer back to their previous work to signal the tone of the album going forward rather than coming off as lazy and forced is part of the reason they’ve remained such a force to reckon with for over two decades.

Whereas the last album in the Vaxis saga A Window Of The Waking Mind introduced unpredictable sonic elements, like 1980’s inspired beats and highly autotuned vocals, The Father Of Make Believe feels more like a victory lap for the Coheed And Cambria fans have come to know and love. Plenty of tracks on the album would’ve felt right at home during the band’s earlier catalogue including ‘Goodbye, Sunshine’, with its mid-tempo noughties emo chugs which throw back to fan favourite tracks like ‘Devil In Jersey City’ or ‘The Suffering’ or the delicate acoustic plucking of ‘Corner My Confidence’ which is reminiscent of ‘Wake Up’ or ‘Peace To The Mountain’. Rather than simply repeating themselves, Coheed build on expectations, improving on familiar formulas instead of becoming tired or stale.

Although The Father Of Make Believe does continue the band’s existing tropes there’s also plenty of their signature progressive innovation present here too with unique and modern sounds making appearances between familiar beats. Building upon decades of post-hardcore exploration, Coheed fold in sounds from other genres, such as the breakcore inspired beats on ‘Play The Poet’ or the modern metalcore-esque riffing on ‘Searching For Tomorrow’, bringing a fresh lick of paint to their well-trodden sonic palette.

Despite being absent from the band’s albums since 2007’s No World For Tomorrow, Coheed And Cambria have become known for their melodramatic multi-part suites, luckily for old-school fans The Father Of Make Believe returns to form with the four part ‘Continuum’ saga. The epic begins with the catchy yet darkly progressive ‘Welcome To Forever, Mr. Nobody’ before continuing onto ‘The Flood’, the longest and grandest track on the album, filled with booming percussion and harmonised duelling guitars backing Sanchez’s vocal theatrics. The album’s final two tracks flow together like a climactic final scene and hopeful epilogue with a determined battlecry and soaring riffs carrying ‘Tethered Together’ and a Queen style bouncy piano and springy overdriven guitar bringing a lighter, retro prog feel to the optimistic finale of ‘So It Goes’. The ‘Continuum’ suite is not only a throwback to Coheed And Cambria’s earlier work but also one of the band’s most exciting runs of songs in years, flowing from the heaviest, most striking end of the spectrum to the most melodic without losing an ounce of their progressive edge.

The Father Of Make Believe caps off Coheed And Cambria’s tale so far with plenty of expansion on their well-trodden mix of emo, pop and prog rock as well as enough new sounds to keep the album from sounding stale. Paying homage to their storied history Coheed And Cambria take one final victory lap before preparing to say goodbye to the Vaxis arc of their expanded universe.