Coheed and Cambria
continue to combine metal, pop, and sometimes punk influences on
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
. The high-register vocals of
Claudio Sanchez
are reminiscent of
Shudder to Think
's
Craig Wedren
. The vocals combined with the glam metal-pop music of such tracks as "The Velourium Camper I: Faint of Hearts" and "Blood Red Summer" can at times bring out the influences of
Queen
,
T. Rex
, or
the Cars
, and the recent influences of
Cap'n Jazz
or
Jets to Brazil
.
could look a bit more to these influential bands that they take from and cut down on song length and tedious poetry. The production of
keeps the passionate emotion at bay. The double-tracking of guitars can give an interesting metal-influenced sound, as on "Cuts Marked in the March of Men" and "The Crowing," but production choices hold back the distortion and push up the reverb, keeping the whole record a bit too safe.
Coheed & Cambria
are at their best when they combine the half-time chumpdowns of
Braid
-like emo with late-'70s/early-'80s-influenced glam pop stylings. "Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)" and "The Velourium Camper III: Al the Killer" are
's best examples of their uses of angular, driving metal and passionately sung/screamed double-tracked vocals.
furthers
's efforts to make an epic record, but that may only be in length and a grand vision of the final outcome that falls a bit short. ~ David Serra