Coheed and Cambria – Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe
Coheed and Cambria are a new entry to my musical rotation. I’ve been aware of the band for some time but until now failed to check them out. What a mistake that was! This band brings the progressive to progressive rock. New album Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe is the next instalment in their series of concept albums.
Coming at this from a new listener perspective I was worried I’d not understand what was going on. It’s a bit like dipping into season 3 of Game of Thrones with no prior knowledge. Unlike that experience where you’d feel completely lost and confused, the Coheed and Cambria album makes you feel at home very quickly. As a musical experience I could easily jump in here and have a good time. However on the conceptual side of things I’m sure I am missing out, but that’s on me, not the band.
There is a good amount of genre blending here – rock of course including hard rock and garage rock (Blind Side Sonny), pop, orchestral and choral moments, and ballads (Corner My Confidence). Musically it’s probably the lightest and most upbeat album I’ve listened to so far in 2025.
When you actually dig into the album and start paying attention to the lyrics its darker than it appears. Goodbye, Sunshine dealing with loss and grief. This does feel like an underlying theme to the album but delivered in a positive and uplifting way.
The album flows well track to track. On first listen you won’t know what to expect next. From the quiet and calm first track Yesterday’s Lost, into a duo of upbeat and earworm laden rockers in Goodbye, Sunshine and Searching For Tomorrow. The pace slows down for a couple of tracks before getting a one, two punch of energetic and hard-hitting: Blind Side Sonny and Play the Poet. Corner My Confidence slows things down for an emotional ballad.
Closing the album is epic four part The Continuum. Which individually work as songs in their own right. The final part So It Goes being an uplifting stadium pop song inspired piece but with fantastic guitarwork. Just when you think the song and album is done it morphs into a cinematic and orchestral film score. Working as the end credits for this album and tantalizing set up for whatever the band do next.
What surprises me is the run time of the album is only 58 minutes for these 14 songs. Which is a pleasant change for me for a progressive album, some of which can be pushing into that 80 minute mark, and sometimes feel longer! A lot is achieved, and it doesn’t outstay its welcome.
This will remain one of my favourite releases this year. It gently pushes the boundaries of progressive rock music and introduced me to a new band that I’ll definitely go back and check out their prior releases and eagerly await whatever they do next.
Top tracks: Searching For Tomorrow, Goodbye, Sunshine, Tethered Together
