GOOD APOLLO, I'M BURNING STAR IV, VOLUME ONE - FROM FEAR THROUGH THE EYES OF MADNESS

Coheed and Cambria perhaps only just warrant inclusion on this website. Not really prog, but trying. Their 1st disc, 'Turbine' is immature, disjointed, uncatchy. Their 2nd 'In keeping' expanded on that, got a bit catchier, with half of the songs worthy of this release.

'Good Apollo' on the other hand, is mature and accomplished, perhaps helped along by the production crew (Andy Wallace, remember Nirvana's Nevermind, Faith No More and many more). Bits of Rush, Queensryche, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Metallica - tasty riffs and lead work, vintage sounds, nice drums, quality melodies and a snarl in the vocal delivery - some of the lyrics verge on Slayer nastiness. Then there's the bits which sound like the Rocky Horror Show or Grease.

The scope of the story line (which I haven't bothered to decipher) is pretty cool, reminds me of King Diamond's story telling, I just like the nastiness and the flow of the songs, they work well together. Track 6 is the same as track 14, just a different arrangement and a different middle bit. A bit of a taste of prog.

So, not really testing the boundaries but interesting enough in a rock/metal way. Their next release was pretty bland rock and I can't see them doing much from here on, but you never know.