Corvid's Corner - January 2024
The Afterman: Descension by Coheed & Cambria:
Welcome to Corvid’s Corner! This is a place for me to geek out about whatever video game I’m playing or music I’m listening to, and write about it in a longer form than a staff pick. If you try this album on for size, please let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Time for the second installment of The Afterman (2013) by Coheed and Cambria. The narrative behind Coheed and Cambria’s concept albums is dizzying and extensive. For me, that’s a huge part of the draw–there are graphic novels, a rare print book, and a coffee table book along with the albums that detail a rich story about this science-fiction universe of Sanchez’s creation. In my first blog post about this album, I went through some of the story, and today I’ll share a bit more, but I highly recommend you finish the story for yourself. Everything is available on a Fandom wiki-powered web page.
We left off in the Keywork with Evagria the Faithful saving our protagonist Sirius from destructive entities Vic the Butcher and Holly Wood the Cracked, who were attempting to use his body to exit the Keywork and gain peace. Evagria cradles Sirius in her arms, rescuing him from Vic’s grip, and bathing the astronaut in a healing glow as he relaxes into her arms. Sirius is able to see the second level of the afterlife, where everything is peaceful. He can’t believe what he sees, the stark contrast between the bland purgatory known as The Mono and a Utopia with a beautiful soothing light all around. Evagria was truly a good person as she lived, strong and caring to others. She was a volunteer at a local hospital, adopted children at risk, and did her best to bring people together with compassion. When she finally passed away after being diagnosed with a rare bone disease, her children carried on their mother’s charitable ways.
In Evagria’s warm embrace, Sirius finds clarity for a moment, becoming aware of two separate levels of the afterlife, and names Utopia The Samaritaine, in honor of Evagria, the Good Samaritan who saved him from the angry entities trying to hurt him. To progress to Utopia, a soul must let go of things that defined them in life and death. He reflects on this and realizes he did a great disservice to his wife on Heaven’s Fence, Meri. Sirius wanted to make her proud, but she always feared that he was putting his work before their relationship. He misses her here in the Keywork, and wishes to share his discoveries with her.
The All-Mother, an AI charged with tracking Sirius’s health levels and navigation, attempts to reconnect with the Meriwell to send their transmission signal back to Heaven’s Fence. Connection fails. She explains that time passes differently in the Keywork–what feels like a week has actually been 547 days. She asks “Do you still want to go home?” That’s all he wants. She plots a course for their return, and Sirius will attempt to descend and land on a satellite station. If this fails, he will free fall and his odds of survival would dramatically decrease. Find out if he survives, and how life changed in his absence. The story has a beautiful ending, and I suggest you seek it out.
As far as the actual music goes, this album is GROOVY. There are some seriously funky songs, and I love that the songwriters took that risk on a rock album, because every song feels better than the last. Coheed & Cambria has never been afraid of a pop moment interspersed with their heavy riffs, or an ear worm hook. The songs are layered and dynamic, full of infectious melodies. I feel the album peaks with Number City and Gravity’s Union--full of horns and fervor, these are my favorite songs from both albums. Gravity’s Union is dramatic, theatric, and powerful. The track list comes to a close with a lovely power ballad, and we are at the end of The Afterman's story. I think Claudio and the other songwriters did a great job with this album. The art in the coffee table book is really neat and abstract, and they tell a story along with the text and the songs, giving us a cohesive and interesting science fiction story.
Crank your speakers to finish the tragic story of Sirius Amory with more funk than you’d expect.
Must Listen: Number City, Gravity’s Union, Away We Go, and 2’s My Favorite 1.
