Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures (October 5, 2018) Album • Page 27

Same here. I'm holding off on listening to them (or anything else) until my order arrives tomorrow, though reading everyone's positive reactions is going to make that difficult.

 

I'm taking a break from doing my track by track to say HOLY CRAP HOW IS QUEEN OF THE DARK SO FREAKING GOOD.

 

The best thing I can say about this album is it takes me right back to the early 2000s jamming Coheed with my friends in a way that the Afterman albums or Color of the Sun didn't, not that I didn't like those too. This one is just fucking amazing.

 

Intro to QOTD is soooo cool

 

lol my first thought when I finished was actually the opposite, I was amazed The Dark Sentencer and title track weren't even among my favourites from the album. in fairness I skipped The Gutter and Love Protocol when they dropped as singles and they're probably the best on here

 

Wish some songs were shorter. Never really breaks out for me. Hoping it grows on me.

 

Listened to about half of this on my drive to work this morning and holy shit Toys is everything I’ve ever wanted from this band.

 

Excited to see the love for Toys since Claudio said that's the first or second song he wrote for the record along with The Pavillion.

 

Wow! This is their best album in over a decade!

And it’s almost an 1:20 long!

 

I really can't wait to get that book, the whole concept is so intriguing and I'm excited to see how the story is unfolding

 

Best damn band in the world. Album absolutely rips, potentially their best since GA1. Blown away.

 

With family visiting me this weekend for the Chicago marathon I can't listen to this properly until Tuesday. Trying not to let it kill me as I have other fish to fry for the next 3 days.

That said: I will be reading everyone's opinions every bathroom trip.

 

Listen to it during the marathon. You will probably PR. Also, good luck! Its a fun race!

 

As tempting as that is, I am excited to kick back and relax my crippled legs with headphones on.

And thanks! It's my first full and I am super stoked.

 

What is all this talk about skipping All on Fire? Killer track.

 

The second half of the Toys chorus is just so fucking good. This is the absolute best Claudio has ever sounded. I'm genuinely curious if he's been taking voice lessons because he's improved so much.

 

Easily the most Good Apollo track here. The transitions in the bridges make it a mini Willing Well.

 

Weird I actually get IKS vibes from All on Fire. I think it's the technicality of the song

 

I can see that too, but it's hard for me to see that since it's produced so differently from IKS.

 

Thats v fair.

I'm on my third listen of this and it's gotten better every time

I can't remember the last time I thought that of basically any album.

 

Prologue - Cooler now that I know the beginning is the chorus melody for Old Flames. It's interesting that this is the only dialog we get throughout the album. I thought we might get more of an Afterman feel, but this is fine.

The Dark Sentencer - I've already talked about it a lot, but this song has everything I want from Coheed. Killer riffs, catchy vocals, good production, different bridges. That was my favorite part when I first heard it, the production sounded so much better than TCBTS. Hearkened back to the NWFT style of production, which I love.

Unheavenly Creatures - Again, I've heard it a lot. Kind of wish there was one between these two to make me want to skip to the new stuff less. This is good for what it is. A different type of vocal delivery from Claudio. Catchy enough. I wish the lead guitar was turned up just a little.

Toys - Quiet intro is a nice touch. The riff is huge, but kind of takes a second to understand the flow of it. Travis is messing around with a lot of different effects during the verses, and I love it. Chorus is huge. GUITAR SOLO. Josh does some fun little drum fills during the solo, and I can also distinctly hear him yelling right before it goes into the final chorus.

Black Sunday - What an opening riff. it's got a little bit of a Holly Wood feel to it, but in a good way. There's a lot of weird little electronic flourishes and guitar effects, and they all work great here. Crowing style growl right before the 2nd chorus. I think the transition into the bridge could've been more smooth, but that's okay because the bridge IS SO GOOD. One of the most impressive vocal performances from Claudio ever. Love this one.

Queen of the Dark - Love the piano, that guitar riff, and the guitar noise to open. The echo on Claudio's voice really lends to how HUGE this song sounds. I really just keep wanting to describe this song as huge, I don't know how else to say it. It's like if Evagria was way darker and more pummelling. Lead guitar in the bridge is so catchy, kind of reminds me of the lead at the end of Gravity's Union. Easily my favorite so far of the new ones.

True Ugly - The extra percussion (handclaps?) are a cool effect. I like the yelling in the verses. Some of the vocal effects here really remind me of YOTBR, especially during the chorus. Josh is killing it here. The chorus is pretty good, but a little underwhelming on a record full of crazy good choruses. Bridge is crazy. Kind of reminds me of Vic, which makes sense since that song reminded me of YOTBR too. Bridge is probably my favorite part of the song, especially the duel guitars in the bridge.

Love Protocol - Has a Sting/Police vibe in the verses. Zack is clear and is killing it, like he always does (what a revelation this guy has been). Kind of reminds me of Mothers and Men and 2s My Favorite 1 (I'm doing a lot of Afterman comparisons here). Goodnight/Goodbye callback to the Good Apollo days is cool. Chorus is so good, which is turning into a theme here.

The Pavilion - So yeah, you can compare this to TCBTS, but it is that style executed perfectly. The lead guitar and overall brightness of the song is where the comparisons are coming from, and I get it, but it is so much more realized as a song than a lot of TCBTS, and I personally love it. Hey guess what, this chorus rules, like every other song here. Lyrically content is more straight forward, which is also why people are comparing it to TCBTS, but I honestly love it. Strings are a nice touch. "If you want me here, well, then ask me to stay" is a cool line, and pulls at your heartstrings. It seems like "There's no going home" is a callback in some way, but I can't remember what it's from off the top of my head.

Night Time Walker - Uses some of the same electronic elements as the title track. Surprise, the chorus is good. The vocals in the second verse are wild, give me an end complete vibe, but not as intense. Travis has a cool lead while that is happening. Bridge is the best part, then singing the chorus differently at the end is a very nice touch.

The Gutter - Loved this since first listen. When the screaming kick in for the verses, that dirty riff starts, and it's on from there. Travis has an awesome lick that only lasts a couple seconds before the first chorus, but it's so good, I wish it came back. The chorus to end all choruses. Transitions in the bridge could be a little cleaner, but I've gotten used to it and like it now. Reminds me of the Black Sunday bridge in that regard. The last chorus with the laugh behind it is perfect.

All On Fire - Alright yeah, this hearkens back to Good Apollo 100%. Nasty opening riff, and Claudio and Travis both tear it up this entire song. The chorus is surprisingly understated, but it works perfect since there's more complex musicianship going on in the background of this one. The bridges are like mini Willing Well sections. This song covers A LOT of ground in 5:30. Another crowing style scream in the background before the last chorus. ending riff reminds me Domino. Easily a highlight.

It Walks Among Us - I had such a stupid grin when this started. Vocal production is VERY Good Apollo, but in a song more in the vein of NWTF. Has a swagger like a lot of classic rock does.Some nice bass fills from Zack. Absolutely in love with Josh's drumming, but especially those double bass hits in the second chorus. Bridge is carried mostly by Zack and it's cool. "Creature come and get it" is so fun. Feels like a renaissance album for Travis, he's done a lot of cool things so far.

Old Flames - Pretty intro. My initial thought to this song is that it is very MCR (or Queen influenced) with FOB-style pop sensibilities in the bridge. This could've gone wrong if it wasn't catchy enough, but they nail it. ZACK is so prominent in this song and he is just grooving. Vocal delivery in the verses reminds me of the interesting vocal delivery Claudio did on the title track. I love the na na na's. the extended outro makes more sense within the whole album, since it is basically signing off for the meat of the album. Prologue intro again signifies that as well.

Lucky Stars - It's pretty good, I prefer sparse acoustic songs (Ghost is my favorite quiet Coheed song, and the acoustic version of Wake Up) but I like it a heck of a lot more than Iron Fist, which feels most similar to this musically. The solo is nice. it's a fine song but probably the one I'll come back to the least here.

 

I'm realizing now I love Toys so much because the riff reminds me of Stars by Hum

 

wow they really killed it

 

That's a fascinating take since the two bands couldn't be farther apart in style and approach, yet it's v true in a way