Seldom does a fledgling band impact the independent music scene the way Coheed and Cambria recently has. Their debut album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, which landed in the spring of 2002, is loaded with hooks, dynamic melodies, dark lyrical content and a refreshing concept. This, in conjunction with passionate performances, soulful songwriting and a year and a half of non-stop touring, has garnered Coheed And Cambria a legion of loyal followers.

Creativity and success, however, are never without their demons. Coheed found this out first hand after they had been on tour for over six months straight. The attention they received and the newly discovered rigors of touring was suffocating and stress levels came to a head while on tour in California. A blow up after a show led to the band abandoning tour and going home, fairly unsure if they would ever play together again. But happily, that was then,this is now. The band took a breather and luckily was able to work out their differences and have since toured the United States 3 times, play 14 dates on the Warped Tour and somehow found time to write and record a new album. “I think what has made the difference is that now we exist more like a family than a band,” frontman Claudio Sanchez admits, “and that has brought us all closer together and made the highs and lows just a part of our lives and not the end of the world”.

It is mind boggling that Coheed and Cambria was able to write and record over two dozen brilliant songs during this roller coaster ride. If listeners thought their first album was an impressive start, then Coheed and Cambria’s sophomore effort “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3” (out October 7) is a startling, dark, uplifting and exciting work that shows about as much depth as an indie band has ever shown. Recorded over a period of months, between tours with the Used and their inaugural visit to Japan, Coheed and Cambria was able to lay down the framework of what was to become their most achieved work yet. This epic album takes a large leap forward in two areas that were arguably less focused on before:songwriting and production. The end result is an inspiring and beautiful, shadowy and foreboding, desperate masterpiece that draws it’s strength from the band’s powerful performances.

Within the intricate layers of In Keeping…lies an interwoven saga that began taking shape on their debut album. Sanchez’s continuing epic of another world where the characters Coheed and Cambria live and die, is carried out again on In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. Each song on both albums carries the listener through a dark and violent never-never world, intelligently and starkly, calculatedly and at times disturbing. Sanchez reveals “This sequel is based around a premonition that a character in the story has a dream, that slowly turns into a nightmare”.

The band has chosen to take the long road, sticking it out in the indie world, and touring to build a solid and constantly growing fan base. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 was originally planned to be recorded last August, and over a year later it is finally done. The band’s patience has been left it in the proverbial catbird seat, with a brand new album and lots of excited fans anticipating it, while they are now veterans to both touring and the recording process. Coheed and Cambria are now comfortable in their own skin, and no matter what comes at them from herein, they’ll be able to breathe easy.

Web site: http://coheedandcambria.com/home/