THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Coheed And Cambria’s new album The Father Of Make Believe marks the 10th studio album from the New York band and continues the narrative of The Amory Wars / Vaxis universe, following their 2022 album Vaxis Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind, which garnered critical success and the band’s first Top 10 radio single with Shoulders.
One way to look at The Father Of Make Believe: Coheed And Cambria are establishing a desire to move forward while honouring a remarkable history. Another way to see it: As a series of questions, emotions and thoughts at war with each other — “a war within myself,” as bandleader, vocalist and lead guitarist Claudio Sanchez puts it. The Father Of Make Believe fits into the band’s sonic oeuvre with wailing guitars, drums that crack like fireworks, and Sanchez’s aching, powerful voice centring us through moments both placid and pinwheeling.
Where the set forges new ground is in how Sanchez embraces the role of main character. He’s often used epic songcraft to mask the stories he wanted to tell: Reflections on an addicted father, memories of his beloved grandfather, fears about raising a child in a cruel world, anxieties around losing the love of his life. This time around, he’s writing more directly about his life and, especially, his career. Sanchez is The Father Of Make Believe, gazing down upon this world he’s wrought.
For the last 20 years, Coheed And Cambria have continuously broken the mould of what a rock band can be, forging their own path and building a universe around their music unlike any other. Whether it is in the way their genre-spanning approach to songwriting has allowed them to bridge worlds without being contained to one, or the multifaceted story arc of their albums and comic book series which mark the longest running concept story in music, Coheed And Cambria have consistently shaped new standards, never conformed. Bandmates Sanchez, Travis Stever (guitar), Josh Eppard (drums) and Zach Cooper (bass) have gripped listeners and press around the globe with their visionary compositions and conceptual mastery.”
