In 2012 Coheed and Cambria released the first part of a series of concept albums entitled The Afterman: Ascension. The album received abundant amounts of positive response from fans and critics. Four months after The Afterman: Ascension in 2013 the band released part two entitled The Afterman: Descension. The story follows the character Sirius Amory, as he sets off into the Keywork to discover what it really is. However, time flows differently and he ends up staying away for much longer than intended, which leads to unexpected consequences back home.
The album starts off with “Pretelethal”, which starts off with a light acoustic guitar, accompanied by Sanchez’s airy vocals, followed by a chorus with really heavy downbeats and passionate lyrics. Known for always composing catchy music, “Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant” is one of the catchier songs of the album and definitely great for blasting in the car. “The Hard Sell” is a decent track overall, though not really too relevant to the story at this point and more of a flashback than anything. On “Number City” we are given a bouncy and upbeat vibe which is puzzling considering it’s about the grimmest part of the story.
The track flows flawlessly into “Gravity’s Union”, which has a feel that matches the grief of Amory at this point in the story. The technicality of the drums and Sanchez’s vocals during the chorus stand out in this track. Told from the perspective of the confident “Dr. Strange”, the song covers the part of the story where he tries to perform surgery on both Sirius Amory and his wife. After such a depressing tale of intentional betrayal and murder “Away We Go” provides an uplifting moment. This song, paired with “Iron Fist”, shows Sirius’s grieving process, as his emotions sway to and fro because of the guilt of accidentally killing his wife.
One of the biggest highlights on the album is “Dark Side of Me”. Musically astonishing, the best part is the closing when Sirius’s vessel asks “Is this what love is?” and the keyboard slowly ascends, leading to him softly whispering “…yes”. The track transitions into the end of the album with “2’s My Favorite 1”. This serves as a fantastic ending to the album showing that love really does triumph all, including one’s obsessions and life’s work.
Overall, each track on The Afterman: Descension can easily stand out on its own, with each one having its own distinct feel and contribution to the story. It contains the fifth and final “Key Entity Extraction” track, as the album tells the story of Amory’s descension from the Keywork, back to Earth. If you are interested in the bonus material “Carol Ann” is a dark and depressing track telling the same part of the story as “Number City” but from Sirius’ perspective, a must listen if you are a passionate fan. CrypticRock gives this well crafted album 5 out of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment