Coheed and Cambria is one of the most ambitious progressive rock bands out there. Not only does their music sound good, but they also make concept albums based on a fictional world that they keep expanding on. The lyrics offer a window into this world.
Admittedly, I have not read the comic book series “The Amory Wars,” but it’s been on my bucket list. As such, this album review will focus not on the lore of the fictional world, but rather on “The Father of Make Believe,” the third part of the “Vaxis” series, which released on March 14, 2025.
The album begins with “Yesterday’s Lost,” featuring a piano which could remind people of a track like “Uwa!! So Temperate♫” from the 2015 indie role-playing game “Undertale.” The melody of the piano becomes more complex as the song progresses and there are even violins later on, with the piano being replaced by an acoustic guitar.
Vocalist Claudio Sanchez’s lyrics seem to portray a character reflecting on their life and how fleeting it can be, wanting to make the most of it before dying and fearing somebody else’s death. The first lyric of the album is the introspective “If this life ends early, would I have spent our time right?”
The lyric “I’m so afraid of life lived without you” is, while simple, very effective in painting the psyche of this song’s protagonist as someone who is dependent. The lyrics of this song in general are simple, but it doesn’t need to be that complex as the listener’s first exposure to the album.
“Goodbye, Sunshine” is an upbeat and poppy motivational song about moving on from somebody. “I can’t have you back but / Some things are better off / Dead / The evil you shed for me, you said / Were results of an honesty misread” is the standout lyric from this song for its bitterness in the speaker progressing from this relationship.
“Searching for Tomorrow” begins with an enthralling guitar phrase in a scale that sounds minor. The song is infinitely more interesting texturally and lyrically than the previous songs in the sense that there’s tension and release. This is where the album truly begins.
The titular song on the album repeats the successes of “Searching for Tomorrow” and even incorporates tension and release better than the previous song. The chorus, while melodramatic like most of Coheed and Cambria’s work, is gorgeous: “I’m the vision that you choose to see / The one you can hate or love as you need / In time’s absence, more than memory / So now, at your darkest / I come as promised / I’m The Father of Make Believe.” This melodrama spawns from passion.
“Meri of Mercy” takes a complete 180-degree turn into a ballad-like love song about the protagonist’s dedication to Meri. It’s absolutely beautiful and certainly a highlight of the album.
The lyric “When all goes dark and I can’t see / All my memories lost / I know you’re always with me,” while simple, has excellent symbolism in terms of calling upon the memories of someone you love to protect you from the mental anguish.
“Blind Side Sonny” takes yet another 180-degree turn, from a ballad to a loud rock and roll song with Sanchez screaming at the beginning. This song could work in a movie’s fight scene, especially with the line “We want blood.” The breakbeat at the end carries into the next song.
The beginning of “Play the Poet” sounds like a polished version of a fairly recent song by art rock duo The Garden on the album. The chorus’ lyric “Born to play the poet, fire your words like bombs and bullets” is memorable with how euphoric the guitars are.
“One Last Miracle” can be interpreted as a criticism on the exploitation of people’s hopes by institutions such as capitalism and consumerism, as shown by the line “A fortune sold on television.” Lyrics such as “If you had a shred of doubt, a liar named ‘devout’” and “A hero longing for a criminal” further highlight this corruption of religion and good by greed and capitalism.
“Corner My Confidence” is an acoustic guitar-driven song that takes a break from the progressive rock in favor for an indie folk-flavored ballad. This song overstays its welcome at first, but the composition gets more complex by the third minute before reverting to just the guitar.
It’s beautiful, but when your blood is rushing from the upbeat rock music, this song feels like an interruption. The chorus, however, has some of the best lyricism on the album: “Endings don’t come any easier / As I needed one, you stole the sun / Caught in the flare, we were amateurs / Scared to get burned as time slowly turns to the unknown.” The sun metaphor is beautiful and gives the song a nice luster.
“Someone Who Can” sounds like a song you would hear in the mall but it’s genuinely good and meaningful instead of vapid. It’s a simple song lyrically, but the instrumental carries the weight with some of the album’s richest instrumentals.
“The Continuum” is split up into four different parts. Part one, “Welcome To Forever, Mr. Nobody” has some of the best vocals from Sanchez on the entire album.
Part three, “Tethered Together,” has a beautiful message of unity with this lyric in the chorus: “We’ll all sing together / From the first verse to the last word / Our voices will unite in harmony.” The guitar solo in that part was excellent, but I wish it properly ended instead of being cut off. Part four, “So It Goes” is perfect for waking up in the morning.
Though I’m missing some of the context for Coheed and Cambria in general since I haven’t read “The Amory Wars,” as a standalone album, this is solid. Their music is consistently produced, played and sung. They comfort and inspire me to make my own fictional universe.
Rating: 3.5/5