COHEED AND CAMBRIA

Products of the early-’00s emo boom, Coheed and Cambria distinguished themselves with an evolved, complex punk sound, basing all of their albums around a continuing fantasy storyline, The Amory Wars. Their sixth album, The Afterman: Ascension, continues the epic tale with all of the pageantry one would expect. At times mathematical, Coheed’s song structures display a prog-like aptitude, but like all good storytellers they understand the value of details, as displayed in the romantic keyboard suites, savvy use of strings and occasional guttural screams. Newcomers need not be daunted by the legacy of the concept albums leading up to Afterman—it isn’t necessary to interpret the rallying cries and love songs as dialogue between characters. Though sprinkled with sci-fi allusions, this space odyssey—which continues next year with  The Afterman: Descension—is more Warped Tour than Comic Con. –Amanda Farah