Prog rockers Coheed and Cambria have just released their 11th studio album Vaxis III: The Father of Make Believe, a continuation of the band’s central concept, frontman Claudio Sanchez‘s sci-fi comic book epic The Amory Wars.
For two decades, Coheed and Cambria have shattered expectations of what a rock band can be, carving their own unique path and creating a musical universe all their own. With a genre-blending approach to songwriting, they’ve seamlessly crossed boundaries without being limited to any single sound. Their albums and comic book series weave together the longest-running concept story in music, showcasing their ability to set new standards without ever conforming. Comprised of Sanchez (Vocals/Guitar), Travis Stever (Guitar), Josh Eppard (Drums), and Zach Cooper (Bass), the band has captivated audiences and critics worldwide with their visionary compositions, narrative brilliance, and energetic live shows.
The Amory Wars storyline, fleshed out further in the comic book series, is a sprawling sci-fi narrative set in the fictional universe of Heaven’s Fence, a collection of interconnected planets. The story follows the tragic journey of Claudio Kilgannon, a young man who discovers his destiny as the key figure in a battle between good and evil. His parents, Coheed and Cambria, were unwittingly part of a dark plan involving the creation of a destructive weapon, leading to their deaths at the hands of villainous forces. Claudio must confront the truth about his heritage, the powerful “Keywork” that connects the universe, and the oppressive force of the villainous Wilhelm Ryan, who seeks to control it. The saga explores themes of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption, as Claudio and his allies fight to prevent the universe’s destruction and restore peace.
The third in the Vaxis cycle of releases, Vaxis Part III: The Father of Make Believe will see a new villain emerge, Blind Side Sonny. We caught up with lead singer, and the driving force of the band’s rich tapestry, Claudio Sanchez to find out more about the latest instalment.
With the path that that you’ve been forging with The Amory Wars odyssey with your albums over your career, The Father of Make-Believe seems to be a more personal, vulnerable album. What made this time and this album the right time to be this open?
It’s a very personal record, I think I’m coming to this like crossroads, where I’m just really allowing more of my story to be front and center and really be the thing that informs the concept, instead of an idea I’ve had from the beginning A lot of this material was written in the wake of some family members passing and a lot of questions were posed to myself about mortality and what life would have been like if I had not suggested the concept so many years ago.
What made you decide to shape Coheed and Cambria around a Sci-fi story?
I was quite shy, and I just felt a little more confident in myself performing when I was presenting this music to an audience as a story, I was able to hide behind it a little.
We rescheduled this interview because it was your birthday last week and it triggered the realisation that you and I are NOT 25 anymore. You started this band 24 years ago, naming the band after the parents in the story. We’re now the age of those parents and looking in the rear-view mirror. Has your perspective changed on how you wrote those characters or does it still hold true today?
*laughs* I hadn’t thought of it that way, that’s an interesting thought. When I wrote them for the story and tried to create the characters Coheed and Cambria, I based them on my parents that I knew, watching my dad wake up in the morning and go do his thing, same with my mother, that’s all I knew and they were just as flawed as I think the heroes are and that is what’s always interesting about people.
The parents are in the VAXIS arc, clearly they don’t know everything. They make mistakes. With the original arc, they try to figure out a way to redeem themselves from those mistakes. I feel the same is probably going to happen in the trajectory of the creature, the sister, spider character, who I see more of a connection with, to myself and my wife.
I find the concept album and supporting comic book duality fascinating: do you create the comic book first, then the music, then the lyrics?
Typically, I have an idea of how I want a story to end but most of the time, real life is what informs the concept. Most often, it’s music first, its life experience, I’ll try to find a way to bridge that into the fantasy.
Your fans are passionate about the band and about the story, does the love of the fans and their immersion in the story influence how you write the next instalments?
I think it’s chance. I just write what feels good for me and hope that they like it. For example, the story of the Vaxis Part III: The Father of Make Believe is the third part in the VAXIS arc, but it also acts as a secret sequel to a record we did a few years back called The Afterman. That’s only because my grandfather had passed away, and he was the main influence on the character of Cyrus Amery in The Afterman.
When he passed away, I didn’t really get to say goodbye to him because it happened during the pandemic so I couldn’t go visit him. My way of saying goodbye was putting him back into the story, and with the return of Cyrus Emery in at the end of “Window of the Waking Mind” in VAXIS II, and now into Vaxis Part III: The Father of Make Believe, he’s a character until I figure out what happens ultimately in this story. That’s just accidental but I know that fans really gravitate to that record so to hear some of those motifs that happened in this record, I thought this could potentially excite fans.
It’s a lovely outlet to have, to be able to express your feelings about the people you love in your art. There are 3 new songs that have videos to accompany them, and I felt that they were a thank you to your fans. It was quite joyful to see you performing in those clips and the fans getting into it. Was that deliberate?
“Blind Side Sonny”, “Searching for Tomorrow” and “Someone Who Can” are part of a trilogy. We didn’t actually announce that though. The idea is that it’s this self-reflection, the idea of what if Coheed and Cambria didn’t exist? What would our lives be like as creators? And that’s what happens in those videos. The first one (“Blind Side Sonny”) is present day playing for the fans, and the new villain character, Blind Side, is walking around the audience.
In “Searching for Tomorrow”, which is an animated video he unveils himself and he shows an animated version of us, like what our lives could have been like if Coheed didn’t exist.
And then we come out of that video into the past with Someone Who Can, where we act as guardian angels, instead of Blind Side, and help the younger versions of ourselves overcome some obstacles and instill hope in them as they venture off into being a rock and roll band.
You know, it was great to have the participation of the audience, it’s just fun to be able to have a moment behind the camera and say hello and be creative with them in real time.
Are you going to tour the new album? I know you’ve just been to Australia, but can you please come back!
We’ll be touring all this year beginning in May. We have been talking about returning to Australia sometime this year, but nothing has been announced. We’re going to try to tour this record as much as possible, everywhere we can.
You performed “The Gutter” off the 2018 album Vaxis I: The Unheavenly Creatures for the YouTube channel, FREQs, which is an Auto-Capella style show. It was my favourite performance of yours, it was magic! If that was my favourite, what is YOUR favourite song to perform?
My favorite song to perform? It’s so tough and it changes all the time. I really enjoyed playing “Corner My Confidence” because we decided to do it as a solo. There’s something about it, I haven’t had a chance to perform in a solo capacity that often, and that song lends itself to that and it’s just like not a feeling that I get all that often.
What’s next in the story?
Now that we’ve finished Vaxis Part III: The Father of Make Believe, which is the third part in this five-part arc. I know how this story is going to end, that’s about it. I don’t know what’s happening in Part Four, I don’t know what’s happening in Part Five, I just know how it’s going to end. Whatever happens tomorrow in my life is really what’s going to inform the next few records, what’s going to happen in between. That’s what makes this process so fun for me, it’s the not knowing.
Coheed and Cambria’s Vaxis Part III: The Father of Make Believe is out now – find it on your preferred music service HERE!
Read our FOUR STAR review HERE!
