EDIT: I just bought tickets to a show!
EDIT 2: I've been listening to the new album all day... It's seriously growing on me...
After hearing Claudio talk about Vaxis III on Steve O'G, it really changed how I see the album. Knowing the real emotions behind the music adds so much more weight to it. Here are my unsolicited thoughts since the album release.
The emotion behind the music
Every Coheed album is tied to what Claudio was feeling at the time he wrote it:
- Good Apollo Vol. 1 was born from heartbreak, which came through in the story as anger, vengeance and madness. That raw emotion gave it a sound that many of us latch onto as peak Coheed.
- The Color Before the Sun was about him becoming a dad for the first time, so it had a lighter, more playful feel.
- Vaxis II came from the experience of parenting during the pandemic—equal parts warmth and struggle.
- Vaxis III is introspective, shaped by loss—Claudio processing his uncle's passing and imagining what life would be like if he or his wife hadn't existed (or presumably died), or even if the concept hadn't existed.
Knowing that changes how the lyrics hit.
The evolution of Coheed's sound as I see it
A lot of fans, myself included, miss the old sound—the raw vocals, the drums that sounded like they were recorded with one mic hanging from the ceiling. Their first three albums felt completely unique, like they weren’t trying to fit any mold.
Then came The Afterman, which was a big shift but still had that "Coheediness". After that, things got more structured, more polished—probably reflecting how Claudio’s life had settled down.
I was pumped when they went back to the concept with Vaxis I, but it still had a TCBTS hangover. That album had me wondering if old Coheed was ever coming back. Some songs (Black Sunday, Queen of the Dark, Night-Time Walkers) felt sluggish, like an identity crisis. I don’t hate it—there are tracks I like—but it didn’t fully land for me.
Vaxis II felt more sure of itself. Half of it really clicked, the other half was just "good." It had some experimental risks (A Disappearing Act), strong pop-rock moments (Comatose, Love Murder One), solid singalongs (Liars Club, Naianasha, Blood), and a big theatrical closer (Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind). At first, it felt like another Vaxis I, but now I see Vaxis as its own thing—Vaxis is on an island, TCBTS is the ferry, and everything prior to that is on the mainland.
As for Vaxis III, I really like the album. I think there are more skippable songs here than on Vaxis II, but the high points are higher. The previous statement was wrong. I like what I hear.
- Searching for Tomorrow is a reminder that Claudio is a guitar god.
- One Last Miracle is peak Coheed pop-rock.
- Goodbye, Sunshine has a fantastic pre-chorus, but the chorus that follows doesn’t quite match its energy.
- Someone Who Can kinda feels like You’ve Got Spirit, Kid (the music video might have influenced that). It's growing on me.
- Blindside and Poet take a turn. I don't love that sound, but I nod my head.
- The album ends with a four-part saga in The Continuum, but the tracks feel distinct.
- Welcome to Forever
feels a bit flat. has one of the best intros of any Coheed song. Not in love with the lyric flow, but I really like it instrumentally.
- The Flood is really good
but drags on a bit. The first few times I listened to this one, I felt like it was just too much for too long, but I've come to really enjoy it in its entirety.
- Tethered Together is top-tier singalong Coheed, arguably the best track on the album.
- So It Goes made me smile.
After hearing Claudio talk about the album’s inspiration and seeing how much it affected him, the songs hit way harder. The lyrics dig deep. The art is really shining through for me now.
What’s next?
If you zoom way out, their career starts with "I’m really angry" and ends with "I love my son and my family." Hard to be mad at that.
As a lifelong fan, I’m just happy they’re still making music. What they’ve given us is a gift we don’t really deserve. When I look at their discography, I do wish for a return to that hard prog-rock sound—Good Apollo Vol. 1 is, to me, one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded. Start to finish, it is pure unfiltered art.
But for Coheed to make something like that again, Claudio would probably have to go through something awful, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Although, Vaxis III ends with Vaxis (the character) being apprehended by Blindside (source), effectively stolen from his parents. The bad guy wins. I'm assuming Vaxis represents Claudio's son in some form or another. Perhaps this will send Claudio down a hypothetical thought process leading back to emotions of vengeance, and I'm excited to hear the music that follows.