Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star Volume IV: Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

Ok, the name of the album isn't exactly practical for saying in one go, and they're not that heavy, but honestly, I think C&C's epic album at least deserves a mention from the thousands of times I have been able to listen to this album without getting bored. And by the way, when I say C&C I DO NOT mean Command and Conquer. On with the review...

Surprisingly enough, I got into this band through my sister. This is unusual because not only is her music somewhat.... softer than my taste allows but also because I usually get irritated by her music being played at 10 million decibels in the next room. But Coheed and Cambria was always something good to be heard because even though the voice is almost timid and the guitars never grind like steel on pavement I would always find myself air guitaring madly. The album is, like all of their records, a concept one, based on the storyline of the man and woman called Coheed and Cambria (shockingly). This is the turning point which is meant to be the demise of the characters, hence the violent lyrics in most of songs; 'a selfish little whore, if I had my way I'd crush your face in the door', and 'you burn in hell while they're digging you out' are good examples. These lyrics may be harsh, yet they fit creepily well with the backing music. I imagine the approval of the vocals will be like Marmite and Avenged Sevenfold: love or hate, because they do not scream, barely shout and even whisper some of the time. The guitar parts are fantastic, in particular the third track 'Welcome Home', where the guitarist shreds it out to a pinch harmonic almost every bar at one point, and has a 2 minute solo near the end.

I realise this review is getting long, so to cut it short, this is an impressive piece of work, and ANY prog metal fans should be quick to buy this. However, for any thrash, death or black metal fans this is a big no-no. I give it 4/5 for its brilliant guitars and bass parts, but although I enjoy the vocals, I don't love them. Have a listen and decide I think is the only answer.