A misleading single title if ever there was one, The Suffering is in fact one of the most unusual sounding metal tunes you're likely to hear for some time - although I use the term 'metal' loosely.
Coheed And Cambria have spent the last few years building up a catalogue of concept albums that all combine to tell one single story. This may well sound like the nerdiest idea known to man - after all, a single concept album is enough to put most people off - so is a single a good idea? Can it possibly stand up on its own?. Absolutely. Taking this single as evidence, Coheed And Cambria are pretty hard to pigeonhole, which is no bad thing. There's a pinch of Nu-Metal, a dollop of pop, honky-tonk, and, perhaps not surprisingly, there's a considerable whiff of prog about the whole thing.
This being a single of course means that there's little in the way of noodling, but there are plenty of oblique lyrics all delivered in Claudio Sanchez's unusual pinched vocal style. As hard as you try, you just can't get the image of Rush's Geddy Lee out of your head. On this evidence, Coheed's back catalogue needs serious investigation. In the meantime, The Suffering points towards one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic bands around at the moment.
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