While ‘The Suffering’ isn’t nearly as pretentious as the album title Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV: Volume 1 From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness it’s obvious that, at some point, Coheed And Cambria turned their back on the simple, straight-forward punk/emo sound of their early records to embrace their classic prog-rock influences. It certainly hasn’t done them any harm, as despite choosing to record a single story based over a series of four concept albums (and an accompanying graphic novel) their popularity with both fans and press has seemingly grown and grown.

‘The Suffering’ isn’t, as I understand it, part of this epic – which only truly includes the latter half of Good Apollo… – and thankfully works well on its own, clocking in at a radio-friendly four minutes or so. (In fact, it’s the only single I can think of with a radio version longer than the original). More upbeat and catchy than the bulk of their work, it’s certainly an obvious and sensible choice of single: whether it lures more fans into entering the world of Coheed & Cambria, or what they’ll make of it if they do, only time will tell.

(4/5)

Release Date: 06 February 2006

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