Review Summary: Not what I hoped it would be, but still another strong effort in an impressive back catalog.
This album is weird.
Meaning, I feel like I have just as many positive things to say about this album as I do negative. And at times, some of my feelings contradict each other.
As someone who jumped aboard the Coheed train way back in the In Keeping Secrets days and has therefore anticipated (most of) their album releases since then, I must admit that I’m slightly disappointed in Vaxis, Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures.
Let me state right off the bat that I do enjoy this record. I do- I just don’t love it like I hoped I would. The four singles that preceded the actual release gave me a preconceived notion of the kind of album that I was going to get- I liked all of them and they hyped me up to the point where I thought this was going to reach In Keeping Secrets and Good Apollo Vol. I levels of impressiveness. Upon first listen, however, I felt like I was dealt a blow; most of the remaining songs did not impress me. A couple instantly stood out- Love Protocol’s chorus soars, the pumping rhythm of True Ugly made me grin, and the electronic vocals of Night-Time Walkers seemed like a cool new facet to the band’s approach that I hope gets expanded upon in future Vaxis installments.
That being said; a couple of things I must commend:
- The self-production aspect. I have no experience in the field myself but I’ve heard enough artists and producers talk about the process that I know it’s not easy.
- Claudio’s vocals. This man has NEVER failed in that department to my ears, and he sounds just as good here (if not better) than previous outings.
- For a ninth studio outing, this album shows wild ambition and creativity.
- The diversity of styles present. (Although this is also a negative.)
- The Pavilion; this song immediately grabbed me in a way few songs ever have and has cemented itself as my favorite track on the album, and a top ten of their entire career.
- Whether intentional or not, the little self-referential Easter eggs the band planted throughout the run time (such as the similar structures of The Dark Sentencer/Domino the Destitute, The Crowing scream in Black Sunday, the Year of the Black Rainbow feel of All on Fire, or the seeming Second Stage Turbine Blade reference in the piano reprise at the end of Old Flames, among others).
- Despite the last point, the album as a whole feeling rather fresh.
- The notion that they REALLY leaned into the ‘prog’ sensibilities this time around (take the structure of Toys for a prime example).
Despite the points above, however, after 20+ listens I do have to say that there are some issues with the album as a whole that I can’t quite seem to get over:
- It's too long. "Trimming the fat" a little would have, in my personal opinion, made for a better, more digestible listening experience. A good way to address this issue would have been cutting down on the "repeated chorus" cliché, of which this album is a strong offender.
- By the end, some songs begin to feel too similar to each other. More varied track lengths could have addressed this- shorter songs as well as longer ones instead of a slew of five-minute tracks in a row.
- I feel like the pacing is terrible.
- Going hand in hand with the previous point, the sequencing of the tracks feels weirdly disjointed to me, like the effort would have worked better if certain tracks were in different places.
- Some of the transitions feel like they don’t work as well as they could have.
- A couple songs could have been cut entirely and I feel like the effort would have been stronger.
- The tone feels incredibly inconsistent.
I truly don't know how to feel about this as the eighty-minute work of art it is. While previous album The Color Before The Sun scaled the members back to a more raw and vulnerable state, The Unheavenly Creatures sees them back in their element and seemingly ready to take on the world in a whole new way. Not many artists can try something this daring over twenty years into their career and make it work- it's a risk, and not everything is going to hit the target the band (or the label) wants it to. However, I wholeheartedly applaud the members for having a vision and sticking to it, even if I don't like it as much as several of my friends or the people in some online communities do. It's dividing me internally, but somehow, I'm ok with that.
Bottom line: after the relative calm found on Sun, this album is Coheed and Cambria back firing on all cylinders, for better or for worse. It doesn’t always stick the landing it’s shooting for, but it does do just enough right to make me cautiously optimistic for Acts II-V.
