No World For Tomorrow, Coheed and Cambria's fourth album in the five album concept, The Armory Wars, continues to push the envelope of the emo/rock genre. While Coheed and Cambria combines musical depth with the extreme complexity of a five album concept set, this album remains surprisingly accessible.
The album, which is formally titled Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow, is the group's fourth album, preceded by The Second Stage Turbine Blade, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 and Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. The fifth album will be the first chapter of the story arc, completing the four chapter -, five album continuum.
No World For Tomorrow is essentially composed of two distinct halves: No World For Tomorrow,"" the first portion, and ""The End Complete,"" the conclusion of the entire Armory Wars story.
After a short introductory track, consisting of Claudio Sanchez vocals over an acoustic guitar melody, the first half of the album kicks off with the title track, ""No World For Tomorrow."" This track showcases intricate guitar layers and soaring vocals by Sanchez and previews the structural complexity of the album.
""The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)"" channels Pink Floyd before settling into the typical Coheed and Camria style. ""Feathers,"" the fourth track, features one of the greatest key changes in recent memory, and with ""Running Free,"" Coheed and Cambria show us what a emo/rock anthem would sound like if it wasn't written by people who enjoy mocking midgets.
Similarly, ""Mother Superior"" is an emo ballad reminiscent of My Chemical Romance. Coheed and Cambria, however, achieve the musicality that MCR could only imitate in a major label's studio and retain the authenticity that MCR lost to that same label.
The second portion of the album, ""The End Complete,"" continues to provide complex songs that innovate enough to hold the listener's attention without straying very far from Coheed and Cambria's trademark aesthetic sound. Highlights of this portion of the album include a moment during ""Radio Bye Bye"" where the vocals break into an a cappella quartet and even more echoes of Pink Floyd on the final track, ""On the Brink.""
In a time when My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights and Fall Out Boy are the new Backstreet Boys, Coheed and Cambria provide a refreshing change of pace. The intelligence, musicality and constant innovation that define this band hold their albums in sharp contrast wit the whiny pop hooks these other bands have churned out for their newfound fans.
No World For Tomorrow demonstrates it is possible to combine intelligence and musicality in a genre that often settles for tight jeans and whiny bitching.
