IN KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH - 3

After a somewhat shaky, yet overall competent debut album, Coheed and Cambria end up improving upon every aspect with their sophomore effort, 'In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth - 3'. The emo pop punk element of their debut has been toned down significantly, paving the way for a more mature, more progressive, and far more grandiose sound. This album in general is much more fitting to the description often given to the band, being far more powerful and epic.

The albums splits itself quite cleanly between the more progressive tracks such as the title track and '2113' and some more accessible, pop oriented ones such as 'Blood Red Summer' and 'A Favor House Atlantic'. These more progressive songs are where most of the best material on the album can be found, with the title track being amazing riff after amazing riff, changing tone at multiple point and displaying Claudio's great vocals. Another example is the 3 piece mini-epic 'The Camper Velorium' showing a gradual descent into darkness through adding dissonant riffs and creepy vocal harmonies, perfectly blending the two contrasting musical sensibilities of the band by also throwing in some extremely catchy elements that display some of the peak of the commercial sound achieved on the album. To contrast this, the pop oriented tracks are more of a mixed bag, with 'Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)' being wonderfully energetic and containing an incredible outro, while some songs, especially 'Blood Red Summer' being somewhat too saccharine for my tastes, 'Blood Red Summer' containing the cheesy "hey hey hey" vocalisations that make this song almost downright embarrassing .

'In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth - 3' also applies the technique that continues becoming more prominent on later albums of reprising sections from previous songs, usually to signify certain plot points. This technique is especially noticeable on '2113' with the reprise of the intro to the debut's 'Time Consumer', which definitely added quite a lot to the song overall. The production is also crystal clear here, with each instrument able to be heard with ease, displaying how well Coheed works as a single unit, each instrument being made prominent only when it needs to be, along with how well each person can play, the prime example being the great drum fills in 'The Crowing'.

This is definitely one of the most consistent Coheed albums, with almost all of the songs being of very high quality and with most of the low points still being serviceable. The growing maturity of the band can be seen here in the form of the longer, more powerful compositions and the overall improvement the band has made on every front, performance, emotion, production, everything. This is where I would recommend newcomers of the band to start from, being one of the best albums the band has made while also giving a great general impression of how the band sounds.

Best Songs: In Keeping Secrets With Silent Earth - 3, The Camper Velorium suite, 2113

Weakest Songs: Blood Red Summer, A Favor House Atlantic

Verdict: An improvement over the debut in every way, and the best entry point into the band's discography, walking the line between pop and prog in a way that can appeal to both crowds. Recommended to anyone who won't run away at the mention of pop-punk music.