''The Afterman: Descension'' is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the second part of a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, the first part of which is '' The Afterman: Ascension''. The band took seven months to record the albums between 2011 and 2012, and announced a February 5, 2013 release date. The deluxe version of the album was released with a

coffee-table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and from which it can serve to inspire convers ...

co-written by band member Claudio Sanchez and writer Peter David, giving a song-by-song experience of the

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

. The album follows the

Amory Wars ''The Amory Wars'' is an ongoing series of science fiction comic books and novels created by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez and published by Evil Ink Comics. The name also refers to the fictional conflict at the center of the sto ...

storyline, and concentrates on the character Sirius Amory.

Background and recording

Coheed and Cambria began recording the

in November 2011, and had finished recording by June 2012. "Iron Fist" was debuted in 2010. The song was also featured in the acoustic set during their "Neverender: Second Stage Turbine Blade" dates in 2011. In February, 2012, Coheed and Cambria singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez released a self-shot acoustic rendition of a new song titled "Sentry the Defiant" (later retitled "Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry The Defiant") via the band's official YouTube channel.

Release

The album was released in both digital and physical formats on February 5, 2013; the first part ('' The Afterman: Ascension'') was released on 9 October 2012. The album name and release date were announced on July 31, 2012 via a press release and a YouTube teaser video, featuring a man in a spaceship speaking to an AI he refers to as "All Mother". Coheed and Cambria co-produced the album with Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner under the label Hundred Handed/Everything Evil and will be distributed by

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/ INgrooves. The deluxe version of the album was released with a hardcover

of the album's

storyline, the concept all Coheed and Cambria's albums follow (with the exception of 2015's The Color Before the Sun). The book is co-written by Sanchez and writer Peter David, who worked together on the book which accompanied Coheed and Cambria's previous album, ''

Year of the Black Rainbow ''Year of the Black Rainbow'' is the fifth studio album by rock band Coheed and Cambria, released on April 13, 2010 through Columbia. The album is a prequel to the band's previous four concept albums, which comprise The Amory Wars narrative. ''Yea ...

''. The double album tells the story of Sirius Amory, the namesake of the concept, as he explores the energy source holding together the Keywork (the 78 worlds in which the Amory Wars is set) and finds that it is in fact a horrible afterlife for departed souls. The artwork for the book was created by Heidi Taillefer and

Nathan Spoor Nathan Spoor is an American artist, writer, and art curator. He is known for his acrylic paintings and the popularization of the Suggestivism art movement. Early career Spoor graduated from Abilene Christian University with a BFA in Painting ...

, and the book provides a "song-by-song" experience for the listener. The song "The Hard Sell" was released on December 18, 2012 as part of Guitar Center's Fresh Cuts Vol. 8 compilation CD. A lyric video of the song was later put on the band's official YouTube channel. "Dark Side of Me" was later released on January 14, 2013, along with a lyric video, on the band's Facebook page. The band also played the song on the January 21 episode of '' Conan''. Similarly, "Number City" was released exclusively on NME.com on January 30, 2013, and "Iron Fist" was released on the official Coheed and Cambria Tumblr Account the following day.

Reception

Critical

The album was met with generally positive reviews. It has received 4/5 ratings from Allmusic, '' Alternative Press'', '' Kerrang!'' and

musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

. The overall rating on Metacritic is 75/100.

Commercial

''The Afterman: Descension'' debuted at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart on its release, selling around 41,000 copies in the United States in its first week. It also debuted at No. 3 on both the ''Billboards Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts. The album has sold 91,600 copies in the United States as of October 2015. The album debuted at number 64 on the UK Albums Chart and number 3 on the UK Rock Albums Chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Coheed and Cambria

* Claudio Sanchez –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, piano, ukulele, voice of Sirius Amory *

Travis Stever Travis Stever (born November 25, 1978) is an American musician who is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Coheed and Cambria Travis Stever is a founding member of Coheed and Cambria. The ...

– lead guitar,

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

, backing vocals * Josh Eppard –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, backing vocals *Zach Cooper –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, backing vocals

Additional musicians

* John Medeski – piano,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

*Daniel Sedownick – percussion *Steve Bernstein – horns *Stan Harisson – horns *Dan Levine – horns * Chondra Sanchez – additional background vocals, voice of The All Mother *Maggie Bryngelson – additional background vocals

Artwork

*Heidi Taillefer – cover art *Nathan Spoor – interior art *Bill Scoville – package design and additional graphics

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afterman: Ascension, The 2013 albums Coheed and Cambria albums The Amory Wars Science fiction concept albums Sequel albums