The Afterman: Descension is, fittingly, alt-metal-prog-metal-pop-emo-outfit Coheed and Cambria’s follow-up to last year’s The Afterman: Ascension. With quiet, atmospheric opener ‘Pretelethal’, frontman Sanchez asks “Who will repair this broken heart?”, and for the first time in a Coheed record, by the end we receive an answer. Their sprawling sci-fi saga continues with this album, but as with its predecessor, everything seems far more personal this time around.
On softer tracks like ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘Dark Side of Me’, the band projects a far stronger sense of emotion than ever before, with mammoth choruses that achieve the catchiness never quite matched by previous attempts. That’s never quite been Coheed’s domain. They usually stray towards the more technical end of the spectrum, forsaking easy listening for unfeasibly complex song structures and intricate guitar work.
The genius of Descension, though, is how the band manages to retain this quality whilst branching out into new territory. ‘Sentry the Defiant’ is a whirlwind of crunching guitars and enthusiastic percussion held together by the frontman’s still frankly preposterous vocal range. After exploring familiar ground, the band takes a turn for the bizarre with tracks like ‘Number City’: a track which blends nuanced fretwork with an orchestral backing before breaking out into an outrageously bright, Police-esque chorus. Then there’s a horn section.
If that sounds ambitious, that’s because it is. But they pull it off. Just about. In fact, the album’s weakest moments come when they rely too heavily on past tropes. The sprawling ‘Gravity’s Union’ is overshadowed simply by the boldness of the other tracks. It would have been perfectly acceptable on other albums, but when your third song is a funk-inflected, hair-metal track decrying the injustices of the music industry, straightforward progressive rock almost doesn’t cut it any more.
If there’s one overwhelming feeling that this album gives off, it’s that of maturity. Coheed and Cambria’s style has been expanded upon dramatically, but no single change is humoured any longer than the song demands. Their occasional indulgences have been reined in whilst losing none of their musical depth. “Who will repair this broken heart?” Sanchez asks, and in final track ‘2’s My Favourite 1’ the emotional arc is resolved with the chorus “This is her”. Having graduated from the youth-angst stage, both musically and in reality, most of the band’s members have now settled down into marriage. The Afterman: Descension is about learning to share life with another, and is by far their most emotionally developed work to date.