From C.R.A.D.L.E to Coheed and Cambria. A New Comic Project.
December 9th, 2007 Ahmad Al-Mahir“No World for Tomorrow” is the latest album by the band Coheed and Cambria which I am currently really enjoying listening to. I heard about them when my good friend Hazik sent me a link about the band and the on-going comic project the lead singer is writing. He knows I’m a fan of progressive metal (Dream Theater is one of my all-time favourite bands) and comics. At the time, I haven’t been following either seriously for quite awhile, so I sorta put the idea of finding out more about them on the shelf and promptly forgot all about it.
Then one day, out of the blue, I decided I wanted some music to listen to at work. The CD I most wanted to check out was the new album by C.R.A.D.L.E (a Singaporean Malay rock band). I really liked their debut album a few years back and heard that they recently released a new one after a long hiatus. It’s rare that I have any interest in recent local or Malay music so this was kinda special. Most of the stuff they play on mainstream radio now is definitely not my cup of tea. I am soooo out of it it’s not even funny. Anyway, so I was looking out for the album and was having a really hard time finding any shop that sells it. Muzika Records is usually a reliable place to buy Malay rock CDs but the last time I visited their Joo Chiat shop they informed me it was sold out (btw in case anyone’s wondering, they no longer have an outlet at Queensway Shopping Center - I told you I was out of it). If any of you locates the CD, I’d appreciate a shout so I can go look it up.
How does this lead to Coheed and Cambria, you ask? Well, I was in town a week or so back, and decided to stop by HMV on the slim chance that they might stock C.R.A.D.L.E’s latest album, being the mega music store that they are. It didn’t really surprise me at all to find that they don’t (I’m not even sure if they stock any Malay music apart from the debut release of a recent local competition winner), but while walking down the aisles, I spotted “No World for Tomorrow” on one of the sample racks, tagged with an interesting review mentioning Marvel comics and Queensryche’s “Silent Lucidity” amongst other things. I recalled my friend’s recommendation and thought there’s nothing to lose in giving it a bit of a listen. I was hooked instantly.
From the soaring vocals to the rhythmic beats and catchy guitar riffs, every song had something pretty special in it. The experience for me was kinda like when I heard Dream Theater’s “Pull Me Under” or In Flames’s “Cloud Connected” for the very first time. The music and vocals grabbed me and stayed in my head for quite awhile after. I am also a big fan of the concept album (Queensryche’s “Operation Mindcrime” is a fav) so that was an added bonus. I didn’t realize until much later what a complicated epic fantasy story the whole “The Armory Wars” (the title of the on-going project the comic and albums are based on) was, or that this latest album is one of the closing chapters, but it really doesn’t matter. I snapped it up and have been listening to it over and over again ever since. I’ll definitely be looking out for their previous albums as well as the comic just to complete the entire experience. Maybe I can then make sense of the story, who knows. Come to think of it, I haven’t checked out Dream Theater’s or Queensryche’s latest albums yet either. I wonder if they’re any good…
Speaking of comic projects, my previous collaborator on “Carrier” and myself have been working on a new black and white all-ages mini-comic that we aim to complete and hopefully get published sometime in the near future. At the moment, I’m a little behind on the artwork, but I’m hoping to do a lot of catching up over the weekend. I’m really trying to keep it simple yet visually effective, but it’s still a lot of work. I’ll keep you updated on how it develops. And in case you’re wondering, “Carrier” Chapter 2 is somewhere in the works as well.
As if that’s not enough, there’s another small project that I’m right in the middle of at the moment. This time it’s a simple 2D animation piece. Nothing fancy. Just something to show off some features of a certain software. There’s a bit of a deadline on that one too. I’ll talk more about it in my next posting. As well as highlight the seminars and workshops I’ve been attending these past few weeks. Didn’t I tell you I had lots to say?
Catcha laters, peeps!