the album leaked today. I got a copy. i'll post a mini review of the songs.

1. The Reaping
Unlike previous introduciton songs, this not just intrumentals/ambient sounds. Its a haunting ballad that sets the scene for the scene of the album; claudio kilgannon is going to fuck shit up. A couple throws to Good Appollo's ending, "...the world must learn of change to come...

2. No World for Tomorrow - standout
The song spring in to the heavy title track. This is an epic, guitar driven track that will bring you back to In Keeping Secrets in a second. Layered backup vocals and the shouting is really what reminds me of the title tracks of IKS, but the structure and progression of the song builds in a similar fashion. Towards the end of the song, some seething vocals and a heavy bridge leads back to the familiar throwback, "...what did I do to deserve, to deserve all of you?".

3. The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)
Layered guitars and synthesizers bring this upbeat song to life. Another nod to fans, as Claudio wails during the chorus, "You've been a bad, bad, boy!" The heavy guitars are accentuated by some excellent drums in this song in particular. A shreddin' guitar song leads us to the conclusion of the song.

4.  Feathers
Those who enjoyed the more light-hearted sounds of coheed will be more than satisfied with this song. The features lighter, melodic guitar work and an upbeat tempo. The song enters a pretty cool bridge towards the end where Claudio steps up the vocals a bit, followed by another guitar solo and some of the familiar coheed and cambria style chanting "oh-oh-ohs". Definitely a radio-friendly song.

5. The Running Free
We've had this one a while. The song starts with some sci-fi ish techno noises and jumps in to a twangy guitar-driven chorus. Seems like a mix between "Welcome Home"'s guitarwork and "A Favor House Atlantic"'s lyrical style and progression. There's a few sing-along bits, too. Song's been around for a while, so I'm just gunna leave it at that.

6. Mother Superior - standout
This a beautiful song. Acoustic guitar plucking opens a slow, haunting song, which grows to a fully-orchestrated sound. Claudio hits some really high notes in this song, and it is a good example of how strong a vocalist he has become (if you like his style, of course). Claudio begins to face the grim reality of his situation, "...No they know you're just a boy, so grow up and be the man...". The ending portion of the song is fantastic. "Truly gone fishing," Sanchez muses, a nod to some well-known progressive pioneers. The guitars build and the whole song has a really larger-than-life feel. A standout track, for sure.

7. Gravemakers and Gunslingers
This is a heavy progressive song filled with hard-hitting guitars, vocals and drums. Claudio sings in an in-your-face style, and is backed up by a female vocalist for some of the chorus. This song features tons of solos and twangy guitar work. The lyrics remind me of "Ten Speed", the way they are delivered. The song breaks down a bit towards the middle and slows down a bit, which sort of breaks the mood up a bit, but the song returns to form to deliver another very cool guitar solo. "There's just no time for this" "Oh come on, this is just the hurt I'm lookin' for!"

8. Justice in Murder
This song reminds me a bit of Good Appollo's weaker middle tracks, but with heavier guitar work. The chorus is the song's saving grace, in my opinion, but overall this track isn't anything too incredible in my opinion. It doesn't feature anything the other tracks don't do better.

The End Complete

I. The Fall of the House Atlantic
Instrumental song that builds to the conclusion of the series. Pretty cool stuff. Gets you pretty amped.

II. Radio Bye Bye
This upbeat song is reminiscent of earlier Coheed, in my opinion. Sort of similar to Favor House Atlantic, but it features a heavy chorus, "We're calling all cowards, now, boy!" Towards the end of the song, we get some oh-ohs to sing along with, before the song spirals to its conclusion.

III. The End Complete - standout
This song builds fast. This song's chorus is haunting and catchy, with layered guitarwork that really emphasizes the build-up of all of the events of claudio's world. You can feel the pressure, you can feel the journey coming to an end. When you get to the familiar scream from "The Crowing", the tempo shifts and the song becomes extremely dark. Hectic, chaotic, the keywork is meeting its conclusion. This song is epic in the way 2113 and the Willing Well songs are epic, there is alot of progression and tempo changes but this song is just crammed full of feeling. The song slows down towards the end, and Claudio's whispers lead you in to the conclusion of the album.

IV. The Road and the Damned
Kind of hard to describe this song. It has a resounding chorus and features some solos. Seems to be Claudio Kilgannon's way of saying goodbye to the world he once knew and the people he loved.

V. On The Brink - standout
This song is pretty damn cool. Reminiscent of Dark Side of the Moon, the guitar work at the beginning of the song will definitely give you imagery of 70's rock. The song builds to a familiar chorus and Claudio reminds us that, "...The world's have now learned, of the worst yet to come..." The chorus is, for lack of a better term, pretty groovy. The song changes tempo quite often, so its hard to really describe it. "So long, amory..." he sings, and power guitars hit to remind you that this is a bloody conclusion to a tale. The song gets really hard, and repetitive with "Hey! Heys!" here, but it serves to build the song. Sweeping piano takes us to the familiar guitarwork of "The Final Cut", and the song ends.

Overall, its a step in a new direction. I personally can only find one track that I immediately think isn't so great. This will probably change, but all the others I enjoyed quite a bit. There are a few tracks that immediately stand out, and Mother Superior and No World for Tomorrow are tracks that any coheed fan will fall in love with. The End Complete and On The Brink are two of their coolest experimental tracks to date. Overall, I enjoy the new sound a ton. I love the allusions to other prog rock, as well as their own albums and fans. Its alot heavier sounding, but the fact is, the story's conclusion called for a very heavy soundtrack. I'm not gunna bother rating it because its dumb after just a few listens, but, I can say that there is something in this album for any coheed fan, whether they enjoyed good apollo or not. Without a doubt in my mind, a much stronger release than their last.

edit: no, not comparable to second stage because, in my opinion, this is a complete new sound. if anything i get the in keeping secrets vibe a bit, but that is also a stretch. it really is its own album. i'll most likely change my mind later, but i'm gunna put it at #2 under second stage, with in keeping secrets coming a close #3, and GA at a comparably distant 4.

Hm.  This new album is pretty good so far.  I'm on track 4 right now and I am not that dissapointed although I really wish the dillinger drummer had been involved.

everytime I hear this band I am amazed by how much better they would be if they killed their singer and got a hiphop dj to produce instead of this weird non-segueing stuff!

they got better I think as far as composing goes though.

i am pretty disappointed by NWFT. there is none of the PUNCH of any of the previous albums. the studio version of Mother Superior is pretty shallow compared to the acoustic version they played at NAMM. i understand the "we reinvent ourselves with each release" idea but really the bulk of this sounds like generic '80s rock. there is a solo in like EVERY SONG and they all sound the same.

i blame travis stever for this tbh. in between good apollo and nwft claudio was involved in FIRE DEUCE (one of stever's solo projects) which is just really really lame so i think the cheesy '80s style rubbed off on him.

Yeah I haven't really heard anything from the new album so far that is really standout or worth listening to.  It just feels like a collection of unused Burning Star b-sides.  The songs really just seem to meander without really going anywhere other than the same place each time.

man that gunslingers song was so cool until claudio gayed it up with his squeaky voice during the bridge.

i really can't see how you guys can find songs like NWFT or the end complete similar to GA. The only Good Appollo song I could see fitting in with this CD would be welcome home. guess its just a matter of opinion.

That said, I can completely understand people not liking it for sounding like 80's rock.

yeah, honestly this album still isnt overall as good as IKSSE3 or GA.  Still though, I dont know, its growing on me.

d be if they killed their singer and got a hiphop dj to produce instead of this weird non-segueing stuff!

please clarify

their singer is horrible and they have decent riffs but no idea how to make them flow together?

hmm, i dont know that I really noticed any lack of SMOOTH at all.  I mean, some of the coheed tracks are the epitome of awesome epic transition-- IE The Crowing or Three Evils

the whole thing's on their myspace now.

It's a grower. That's all I can say right now. Listened to it 4 or 5 times and I like it more each time. Beefed with a few tracks but they're acceptable.

water is pretty fantastic, i will certainly admit. and fire gets better with every listen. i bought the new thrice a few days ago... but why bother with this band vs this band. its a very different kind of music.

from your review it sounds pretty good.  I'll definately be buying it when it comes out (or I'll wait about a week till it's in the bargain bin.  Noone around here likes Coheed and Cambria)

feathers rules but that stupid OOOOH OOOOH OOOH sucks.

coheed would be so much better if claudio dropped dead.

claudio is coheed man-- i mean the rest of the band contributes, but he is the driving force in terms of music.

coheed wouldnt be coheed if claudio dropped dead.

Exactly.

I love the new album. I feel its a combination of InKeepingSecrets and GoodApollo. "The Road and the Damned" is right now my favourite. It sounds so different from their other stuff.