Coheed And Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind - Review
First impressions
All right. So I was not expecting too much out of this album if I'm being honest. Father Of Make Believe didn't do too much to get me very excited for Coheed's more modern output. Well, I am very happy to report this album was much better than I expected.
Honestly? It's a pretty consistent album. I don't think it's got a barrage of bangers like their first couple records, but honestly it does a pretty good job at it.
It's a little hard to talk about this one. Mostly because while it is pretty good, it's by far the album with the least distinguishable aspects I've heard from the band. Second Stage and Keeping Secrets had the crazy and raw punk. Good Apollo was a full on rock opera, Black Rainbow was suprisingly dark and industrial. Even Father Of Make Believe had much more influence from modern genres and it made it feel a little more fresh.
Don't get me wrong, the fact that I can't say "this album did THIS specifically" is not necesarilly a bad thing, just makes it hard to talk about.
I think the main thing that this record has going for it is that it's really consistent. While other non golden era albums have a serious problem with filler and unmemorable songs, this album kind of skates by at an average that's just above that threshold. I wouldn't say Beautiful Losers, Blood, Bad Man, Cut The Cord, are my favorite songs, nor am I going to return to them often. But in the context of the album. They are still memorable, you can still see their purpose and how they matter in as pieces of the whole. Most importantly, they are still memorable, have pretty good choruses and keep the standard of quality up.
On top of that, you have some genuine bangers here.
I do not know what they were taking when they made Love Murder One, but my god it's genuinely become one of my favorite songs from them. It's so damn catchy, such a perfect pop song. The chorus is just absolutely perfect, it's got all the right melodies, the right production, even the autotune is welcome.
Hey, there's something this album has. It actually uses autotune very overtly in some parts. I have absolutely no qualms with it when it's used purposefully like any other vocal effect. Not only that, but it actually works in this context. While these modern albums are not as good as their old material, they capture the feeling of a grand space opera much more accurately. It's got big synths, strings, and just sounds so much more like you're in space.
Another highlight is Comatose, it's just another perfect little pop song where the chorus is just everything. Catchy, fun, they've absolutely cracked the code of making incredible to-the-point three minute songs.
However, this doesn't mean they've forgotten to do epics either.
I was severely disappointed by the ending suite in Father Of Make Believe, so picture my surprise when I get to the end of this album, where the songs start to get long, and it's actually really damn good.
Ladders Of Supremacy honestly feels like with a few tweaks to make it more memorable, it could belong in Good Apollo. It's got that grand feeling I've been missing. It feels like a proper epic and it heralds the end of the album perfectly. It builds up perfectly to it's more climatic moments. Cut The Cord has a much more playful and cheerful nature, but it's still really feels like we're reaching the end of the story. We also have the return of the lead guitars that just will not chill during verses, its a much bigger part of their sound than I thought honestly.
And when you get to that title track. THIS is a perfect closing track. There's no watered down riffs, experimentation with modern genres or anything else. This is an honest to god prog epic. I love the acoustic guitars that carry all the way through the more intense parts of the song. The "can you feel it" part reminded me so much of Devin Townsend. And just when it keeps building and building, you get hit the most jolly and happiest ending. This feels so at home with classic Coheed. It's such a tongue in cheek way of ending the album and it has that dark sarcasm that I love from them.
Well, turns out I had more to say than I thought I did. I guess with a band like this it's hard not to really sink your teeth into the details. I enjoyed this quite a bit.
Ranking
Love Murder One
Comatose
Window Of A Waking Mind
Shoulders
The Liars Club
A Disappearing Act
Ladders Of Supremacy
Rise, Naianasha (Cut The Cord)
Beautiful Losers
Blood
Our Love
The Embers Of Fate
Rating