| The Afterman: Descension | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 5, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | November 2011 – June 2012 Applehead Recording Woodstock, NY | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:24 | |||
| Label | Hundred Handed/Everything Evil | |||
| Producer |
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| Coheed and Cambria chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Afterman: Descension | ||||
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The Afterman: Descension is the seventh studio album by Americanprogressive rock bandCoheed and Cambria. It is the second part of adouble album, the first part of which isThe 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 acoffee-table book co-written by band memberClaudio Sanchez and writerPeter David, giving a song-by-song experience of theconcept album. The album is a prequel to theAmory Wars storyline, and concentrates on the character Sirius Amory.
Coheed and Cambria began recording thedouble album in November 2011,[5] and had finished recording by June 2012.[6]
"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/guitaristClaudio 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 officialYouTube channel.[7]
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.[8] The album name and release date were announced on July 31, 2012 via a press release and aYouTube teaser video, featuring a man in a spaceship speaking to anAI he refers to as "All Mother".[9] Coheed and Cambria co-produced the album with Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner under the label Hundred Handed/Everything Evil and will be distributed byFontana/INgrooves.[10]
The deluxe version of the album was released with a hardcovercoffee-table book of the album'sAmory Wars storyline, the concept all Coheed and Cambria's albums follow (with the exception of 2015'sThe Color Before the Sun). The book is co-written by Sanchez and writerPeter David, who worked together on the book which accompanied Coheed and Cambria's previous album,Year of the Black Rainbow.[10] 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.[11] The artwork for the book was created by Heidi Taillefer andNathan Spoor, and the book provides a "song-by-song" experience for the listener.[10]
The song "The Hard Sell" was released on December 18, 2012 as part ofGuitar Center's Fresh Cuts Vol. 8 compilation CD. A lyric video of the song was later put on the band's official YouTube channel.[12] "Dark Side of Me" was later released on January 14, 2013, along with a lyric video, on the band's Facebook page.[13] The band also played the song on the January 21 episode ofConan.[14] Similarly, "Number City" was released exclusively onNME.com on January 30, 2013,[15] and "Iron Fist" was released on the official Coheed and Cambria Tumblr Account the following day.[16]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 75/100[17] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Alternative Press | [18] |
| Classic Rock | [17] |
| Consequence of Sound |  [19] |
| Kerrang! | [17] |
| musicOMH | [3] |
| PopMatters | [17] |
| Punknews.org | [20] |
| Sputnikmusic | 4/5[21] |
The album was met with generally positive reviews. It has received 4/5 ratings fromAllmusic,Alternative Press,Kerrang! andmusicOMH.[2][3][18] The overall rating onMetacritic is 75/100.[17]
The Afterman: Descension debuted at No. 9 on theBillboard 200 albums chart on its release, selling around 41,000 copies in the United States in its first week.[22] It also debuted at No. 3 on both theBillboard'sTop Rock Albums andAlternative Albums charts.[23][24] The album has sold 91,600 copies in the United States as of October 2015.[25]
The album debuted at number 64 on theUK Albums Chart[26] and number 3 on theUK Rock Albums Chart.[27]
All tracks are written byClaudio Sanchez, except "Away We Go", "Iron Fist" and "Dark Side of Me" composed by Claudio Sanchez andTravis Stever[28][29]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pretelethal" | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant" | 5:45 |
| 3. | "The Hard Sell" | 5:10 |
| 4. | "Number City" | 3:49 |
| 5. | "Gravity's Union" | 6:46 |
| 6. | "Away We Go" | 3:55 |
| 7. | "Iron Fist" | 4:46 |
| 8. | "Dark Side of Me" | 5:03 |
| 9. | "2's My Favorite 1" | 4:55 |
| Total length: | 43:24 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Dark Side of Me" (Einziger and Sanchez remix) | 4:24 |
| 11. | "Carol Ann" (bonus track) | 5:06 |
| 12. | "Random Reality Shifts" (bonus track) | 5:47 |
| Total length: | 15:15 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sentry the Defiant" (demo) | 4:56 |
| 2. | "The Hard Sell" (demo three) | 4:39 |
| 3. | "Gravity's Union" (demo) | 5:54 |
| 4. | "Away We Go" (demo) | 4:07 |
| 5. | "Iron Fist" (Bunny Man Bridge demo) | 4:38 |
| 6. | "Iron Fist" (Acoustic Stripped demo) | 4:36 |
| 7. | "2's My Favorite 1" (demo) | 3:21 |
| 8. | "2's My Favorite 1" (Piano demo) | 3:25 |
| 9. | "Carol Ann" (bonus track) | 5:06 |
| 10. | "Random Reality Shifts" (bonus track) | 5:47 |
| 11. | "Dark Side of Me" (Einziger and Sanchez remix) | 4:25 |
| Total length: | 50:52 | |
| Chart (2013) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[31] | 64 |
| UK Rock Albums Chart[27] | 3 |
| USBillboard 200[32] | 9 |
| USTop Alternative Albums (Billboard)[33] | 3 |
| USIndependent Albums (Billboard)[34] | 3 |
| USTop Rock Albums (Billboard)[35] | 3 |
| USTop Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[36] | 3 |
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