Having previously played together as Shabutie, Coheed and Cambria officially formed in New York in 2001. The band embrace a fusion of progressive and emotional rock along with highly conceptual album themes. Vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez, guitarist Travis Stever, bassist Michael Todd, and drummer Joshua Eppard issued their group’s full-length debut, 2002’s ‘The Second Stage Turbine Blade’, on well respected indie Equal Vision Records. The band toured extensively for more than a year in support of the album, which was created as the second installment (although the band’s first release) of a five-part fictional saga about the doomed marriage of two characters, Coheed and Cambria, whose children may or may not be infected with a serum whose power can destroy the universe.
Coheed and Cambria released ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ in 2003. This third part of the five part series received some support on the likes of MTV and Coheed and Cambria subsequently toured North America with Thursday, Thrice, AFI, and Rainer Maria. They also joined the tenth annual Warped Tour in summer 2004 and embarked on their first headlining European tour. These exciting events stirred the band to return with ‘Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness’ in September 2005; the album (part four) was also the first installment of a two-part conclusion to the band’s running sci-fi story line.
Both bassist Michael Todd and drummer Josh Eppard ended up leaving the group in 2006. With Todd actually returning to the band and the temporary enlistment of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, the group began recording their fourth album, ‘Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World for Tomorrow’. The group’s lineup was soon cemented with the addition of ex-Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Chris Pennie, and the album was released in October 2007.
