Coheed And Cambria: Fathers, Sons, and Fallen Brothers
There’s a strange vortex of energy surrounding the impending release of Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind, the new album from COHEED AND CAMBRIA. The second record in the newest branch of band front man and mastermind Claudio Sanchez‘s Amory Wars saga, it’s a record that directly continues the breakneck breath of life that was Vaxis: Act I and speaks both musically and lyrically to life and love. Sanchez had previously gone on record speaking about the lyrics being directed from his own feelings and love towards his son, Atlas, and the first single Rise, Naianasha was both an achingly tender and explosively cathartic jolt of hooky positivity. The following singles Shoulders and The Liars Club continued to feed that breath of snappy catchiness that only drove the hype for the record to higher levels. But behind the scenes of the making of this record, there was a love that fuelled the writing that bordered on desperation.
“I was most inspired during the writing of this album while I was protecting my family and making sure that my children were okay,” says guitarist Travis Stever. “I was feeling the hunger to want to work on everything I could because I felt my livelihood slipping away.”
The pandemic was both a positive catalyst and a frightening symbol of the state of things for Stever. The anxiety and urgency of that time period for musicians stoked the fire in his melodic songwriting and the necessary space and distance between him and his band mates turned out to quench a bit of his own anxieties and focused him like never before. “There was this dramatic urgency I was feeding off in recording,” says Stever. “Claudio and I had a time where we were emailing parts back and forth, and I was only left with myself which worked really well for me. It felt better than having to be standing in the live room with everyone looking at me and saying ‘what do you got?’ In those moments you’re anxious and feel on the spot to get out exactly what you’ve come up with because you know it works, but you’re stumbling and worrying if everyone likes it. When I was at home, I knew that if I sent something to Claudio that he didn’t like, that that was okay because I had put everything into it and made it sound exactly how I wanted it to.”
For listeners in the past who may have been intimidated by the intricate and immense musical lore that COHEED AND CAMBRIA deliver, and who may have only been drawn to the band on a surface level due to the gravitas and, frankly, epic construction of the band’s breakout single, Welcome Home, Vaxis: Act II offers the most accessible entry point yet for newcomers to the band and a perfect glimpse of what COHEED AND CAMBRIA is all about in 2022.
“I think this record holds more catchiness and more traditional hooks for your average listener,” explains Stever. “But there’s still plenty of ‘throw you for a loop’ COHEED AND CAMBRIA moments on here. That sonic change has a lot to do with what Claudio is trying to tell, but you can definitely hear the catchiness in a song like The Liars Club.”
For all the joyous energy Stever has discussed about the past and present of the band, there’s one tragic note that has to be brought up. Many casual listeners, and even some fans, forget that the late, great Taylor Hawkins was at one point an integral part of COHEED AND CAMBRIA history, having recorded all the studio drums for their fourth record, Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow. The conversation ends on a bittersweet note, as Stever recalls the sheer magnitude of having a titan like Hawkins be a part of his band’s legacy and history forever, as well as some of the wild experiences he had during the recording of that record.
“Our producer at the time, Nick Raskulinecz, had that close connection with Taylor and the FOO FIGHTERS, and our drummer at the time (Chris Pennie of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) couldn’t record drums due to contract issues, so Nick suggested Taylor. It was absolutely surreal. Taylor was into it and we did some pre-production while Dave Grohl was in the next studio over mixing Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace. You’d be outside having a cigarette and guys like that would walk out.” He continues, “Taylor was in there pounding away and one day he invited Chad Smith from THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS over during the recording and Chad egging him on! It was absolutely insane! He was just the kind of dude where once you met him or talked to him, you left smiling. He made you feel grateful to rub shoulders with him, let alone have him play on a record.”
It’s immediately evident that Hawkins‘ tragic passing hit Stever as hard, if not harder than the rest of the rock/metal world at large, but his final remembrance and tribute to a true titan fittingly caps off the interview and, somehow, it feels like Taylor Hawkins is smiling and cheering on his friends in COHEED AND CAMBRIA as they prepare to release this new record. One can only imagine he’d be just as stoked as the band is for a record set to draw a whole new batch of fans to a band he was proud and happy to be a part of, if only for a moment.
Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind is out now via Roadrunner Records.
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