SINGLE REVIEW: Coheed & Cambria – The Joke

It’s been a little while since we last heard from prog-rock legends Coheed & Cambria. The four-piece dropped their phenomenal album ‘Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind’ in 2022, bringing a fresh new sound that brought in influences from pop-punk, dance-rock, and symphonic rock, and seeing the band reach new heights as performers.

Until recently, it’s been non-stop for all involved, between touring as Coheed, work with side projects for vocalist Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever, and the very commendable work of Josh Eppard with his addiction outreach campaign. Now, following a brief interlude, the band are back with a brand new single, ‘The Joke’.

Repurposed from the cutting room floor of the previous album’s recording sessions, ‘The Joke’ continues that new sound previously mentioned, with a real focus on punchy riffs and gorgeous, sparkling vocal melodies from Sanchez, who only seems to improve with age, especially during the soaring chorus segments. This track, however, brings a little more of a raw, heavy edge than much of the material on the album, with the guitars sounding more ferociously distorted, and the layers of the track constructed in unconventional ways.

Existing as something of an ode to the Joker of Batman fame, the track sounds perfectly chaotic during the verses, with Stever producing a magnificently dissonant and unsettling walking riff, alongside a central body of heavy riffs that feel almost a little industrial in nature, glitching at the edges. Zach Cooper continues to be one of the finest bassists around, with his melodic approach once again acting as an incredible backbone.

It’s a brilliant bite-sized snack that will keep fans happy until the band’s next album, with a promise we’ll hear more about that soon. In the mean time, ‘The Joke’ continues to show why Coheed & Cambria have become the cult legends that they are, and releasing alongside a freshly remastered version of their rare track ‘Deranged’, this is a perfect love letter to not just the comics that inspire the band, but the fans who have supported them.

For Fans Of: Thrice, My Chemical Romance, the great nothing, Static Dress, Primus

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