“I think it gave us a new perspective on living in L.A. for a while,” he says. “I don’t know if I would ever live there, but it was nice to be somewhere new for a month and a half.” The album is similar to the band’s previous Volume One release, sporting intricate compositions drenched in thick melodies, coupled with an aggressive edge. Sanchez’s distinctive voice was captured in fine form by Raskulinecz, who had just tracked Rush’s
Geddy Lee, a singer to whom Sanchez is often compared.
“I’m not a huge Rush fan, but I am a fan now because of the comparisons that we get to them,” Sanchez says. “It’s funny, because none of us really grew up listening to Rush. Geddy has a pretty high range, and sometimes it’s a little difficult to capture the right sounds with my voice. So I thought, ‘He has some experience with someone in a peculiar range.’ That was definitely a plus.”
Despite a catalog of excellent and largely palatable recordings, Coheed and Cambria hasn’t garnered as much radio and video play as its peers. Sanchez says he’s uncertain whether or not that’ll change with the release of the new album. “Those kinds of things are out of our hands,” he says. “Sometimes I think that people just don’t know what to do with us. When I take a look at this band, and I A/B it [with another band], or I just watch videos on television—because my mother’s like, ‘Oh, your video’s coming on,’ and I watch a rotation—I’m like, ‘Man, what do they do with us?’”
Those who’ve followed Coheed’s storyline since its first release in 2002 shouldn’t fret; apparently, there’s a prequel in the works. Still, wrapping the current release, says Sanchez, is a cause for celebration.
“I’m definitely excited to come to the conclusion. Certainly for myself, as an artist in general, I always found that I had a hard time finishing things. And it’s nice that this, such a big project, found its way to its conclusion. So there’s a real sense of pride. I’m very excited.”