Fans of science fiction and such bands as Rush, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Queen have found a 21st-century band to follow in Coheed and Cambria.
Founded in 2001 in Nyack, N.Y., by Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever, the band has released a series of concept albums that share a common science-fiction storyline, The Amory Wars, which has developed through seven studio albums, three live albums, a series of comic books and a novel. And a movie deal is in the works.
“Claudio comes up with all the ideas and lyrics, and the rest of us do the music,” guitarist Stever says. “It’s a welcome challenge, for sure. He approaches things from a real-life scenario and the songs are written so that the imagery ties into the core. Sometimes Claudio and I get together and build a song from a riff.
“We’re just a garage band that goes wherever the music takes us. We’ve got a lot of poppy songs to go with others that have been described as punk, hard-core and metal.”
Sanchez came up with the idea for the concept on a trip to Paris in 1998, and he and Stever’s band at the time, Shabutie, decided to change the name to Coheed and Cambria, two of the protagonists in the story, which also centers on the band’s logo, the Keywork, a symbol for the alignment of the universe of The Amory Wars.
The band released its debut album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, in 2002, and followed that a year later with In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. Columbia Records then came calling, and the band began releasing its albums on that major label: Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness in 2005; Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow in 2007; Year of the Black Rainbow in 2010; The Afterman: Ascension in 2012; and The Afterman: Descension this year.
When asked whether visual elements play a part in live shows, Stever enthuses: “The show incorporates some pretty incredible stuff. We definitely have some stuff to look at.”
Other band members are drummer Josh Eppard and bassist Zach Cooper.
Coheed and Cambria has opened shows for Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold and Linkin Park, toured on the Vans Warped Tour and performed at several festivals, including the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Lollapalooza. Songs by the group have been featured in several editions of the Rock Band video game and on a Batman: Arkham City video game.
“We recently did the Uproar for Rockstar Energy Drink, where we were with Alice in Chains and Jane’s Addiction,” Stever says. “We’ve also lately opened for Soundgarden and Black Sabbath, in their Heaven and Hell phase.”
Stever says Coheed and Cambria has played Little Rock before, but it has been quite a while: “It’s exciting when you don’t hit someplace for a long time, you know that some of the fans are hearing songs for the first time, while others are waiting to hear their favorites, so that makes it a delicate balance for us to take into account.”
The movie deal, involving producer Mark Wahlberg, came about at a Comic Con gathering in San Diego, but Stever says the band knows few details.
“It can be years before things like that come to fruition,” he says.
Coheed and Cambria
Opening acts: Balance and Composure, I the Mighty
8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Revolution Room, 300 President
Clinton Ave., Little Rock
Admission: $27.50 advance;
$30.50 day of show
(501) 823-0090
revroom.com
Style, Pages 29 on 10/29/2013