Having spent the best part of twenty years immersed in a rich and complex sci-fi concept, a break was long overdue, and 2015’s ‘The Colour Before The Sun’ was a refreshing opportunity to hear Coheed and Cambria let loose on something different. That said, in the same way that Star Wars fans get an overwhelming sense of emotion when a new film hits and that iconic yellow text starts to scroll up the screen, the moment Claudio Sanchez’s guitar kicks into ‘The Dark Sentencer’ and a narrator proclaims “It begins with them, but ends with me. Their son, Vaxus”, I can’t help but get excited for another space-epic.

I haven’t been this impressed with a new single since ‘Welcome Home’, and in fact, this riff-led, epic, prog rock procession wouldn’t feel out of place on the band’s superb third album ‘Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV’. The groove of the central riff, to the way the vocal melodies drive the song onwards, mirrors the style of their older material, but with a layer of sophistication shaped by the band’s experimentation on more recent material.

Coheed and Cambria have been perfecting their craft for twenty years now and ‘The Dark Sentencer’ is the perfect way to celebrate the sound that’s gifted them their lengthy career, while still generating excitement for what they’ve got left to show.