Pour one out for Saint Vitus Bar, The Home of Metal (and more) 2013-2024. We share our feelings on the closing and also:
We ranked the Top Five Most Important Shows Ever at Saint Vitus Bar
Top 15 Shows Covered by Ghost Cult
Top Interviews we conducted there
Top 5 Special Events
Coheed And Cambria shared a rare stand-alone track, titled “The Joke”, out now. The the track comes from their Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind album sessions; the band are happy for it to finally see the light of day. The track is choicely paired with b-side “Deranged,” previously released in 2011 as part of the Batman: Arkham City soundtrack. “Deranged” focuses on the co-dependent relationship between Batman and The Joker. The song has been remixed and remastered for its return to DSPs after being away for a few years.
Both songs were mixed by Zakk Cervini and are available everywhere digitally via Evil Ink / Virgin Music. Stream both tracks here.
After a brief hiatus from the overarching conceptual narrative that their previous catalogue followed, 2018’s Vaxis- Act 1: Unheavenly Creatures saw Coheed & Cambria make a welcome return to The Armory Wars saga, commencing a new tale within the narrative, one to be told across a five-album span. A span that follows the titular and, currently, little-known character Vaxis, who at the point of Act 1 is unborn but an almost guiding hand to his parents Nia (Sister Spider) and Nostrand (Creature) in their escape. A welcome return with glorious results which means anticipation is rife again for the follow-up as the narrative continues on Vaxis II: A Window Of The Waking Mind (Roadrunner). Where Act 1 largely comprised of deceptively sprawling songs and hit a near eighty-minute mark, Vaxis II’s repertoire is generally more succinct with songs around the three-to-four-minute mark. Arguably a more commercial-friendly effort, that thought belies the still present depth within even shorter songs and the areas of innovation throughout which still feels unmistakably in character for the band, despite clear differences to its predecessor.