“If this life ends early, would I have spent my time right?”
One of the most long-running and consistent bands in the modern progressive scene and beyond, Coheed and Cambria have earned a passionately devoted fanbase that follows their every move. The previous installment in their Amory Wars saga, 2022’s A Window of the Waking Mind, saw Coheed expand their sound further into mainstream rock, with some of their most accessible compositions and stadium-sized hooks in years.
Now, The Father of Make Believe continues that sonic expansion, continuing to broaden the band’s sonic horizons while also frequently throwing back to their progressive roots. The result is an excellent new entry in the band’s canon, particularly for an act more than two decades into their career. Opening with a somber piano melody that eventually transitions to tender acoustic strumming, opener “Yesterday’s Lost” effectively sets the stage for the eclectic musical journey to follow.
The third installment in the band’s Vaxis sub-series, The Father of Make Believe continues Coheed’s long-running Amory Wars conceptual storyline. An epic science fiction tale of conflict spanning generations, the ongoing narrative is undeniably an impressive achievement in long-form storytelling. As per usual with Coheed’s albums, however, deeper knowledge of the storyline enhances the listening experience rather than being essential.
“Goodbye, Sunshine” quickly kicks things into high gear with a classic twisty lead guitar riff courtesy of Travis Stever. Stever has recently been splitting his time between his main band and the Anthony Green-fronted supergroup L.S. Dunes, but his prog-tinged technicality is likely to always feel most at home as the backdrop for frontman Claudio Sanchez’s soaring melodrama. “Searching for Tomorrow” features another such classic Stever riff, layered on top of a deviously catchy synth melody.
Like A Window of the Waking Mind before it, The Father of Make Believe is co-produced by Sanchez alongside Zakk Cervini. While Cervini’s impact as a producer/songwriter on the modern metal scene can be best described as polarizing, his collaboration with Coheed has been one of his more effective in recent years. Sanchez remains firmly in control of the band’s songwriting, and Cervini’s main contribution is providing a clean, polished sheen to the band’s more anthemic stadium rock swings. As on the band’s previous album, this production proves an effective choice for one of their more melodic, accessible collections of tracks.
The album provides plenty moments of subdued beauty, such as tender piano-led ballad “Meri of Merci” and the remarkably restrained acoustic “Corner My Confidence”. On the other side of the spectrum, two mid-album highlights come from the back-to-back punches of “Blind Side Sonny” and “Play the Poet”, which channel the band’s old-school punk influences into aggressive bursts of fury heavier than the band has sounded in some time.
Any longtime Coheed listener is aware of their love of closing out albums with multi-part suites, and this time we get the four-part epic “The Continuum”. In classic prog rock fashion, the suite twists and turns through menacing build-ups and dramatic climaxes, with a particular highlight being the third part “Tethered Together”, featuring one of the most instantly uplifting singalong hooks the band has written in some time.
The album closes out in richly melodic fashion with “So It Goes”, taking an unexpected hard pivot toward baroque pop. Lush layers of sound conclude this sonic journey in an uncharacteristically bright, upbeat fashion.
While The Father of Make Believe largely remains anchored to Coheed’s core sound, there are enough curveballs here to continue pushing the band forward, while longtime devotees will be thrilled by the renewed focus on their progressive roots. Coheed and Cambria continue to prove their remarkable consistency over a recording career that has now continued for over 20 years, becoming standard-bearers in a scene where few bands have remained standing for half as long. That’s something worth celebrating.
8/10
The Father of Make Believe is out March 14th through Roadrunner Records. It can be pre-ordered here.