Following COHEED AND CAMBRIA’s critically acclaimed, top 5 Billboard album release of volume one of their double-album, The Afterman: Ascension on October 8th, 2012, the band announces the release of volume two, The Afterman: Descension via V2/Everything Evil on February 4th, 2013.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA hit UK shores recently, kicking off their first UK headline tour since The Afterman:’Ascension’ was released. With two London shows at Camden’s KOKO getting things off to an explosive start and the recent string of US and European dates behind them, the tour was heralded by fans and media alike as the bands most triumphant and mesmerizing to date.

“We haven’t properly toured on a new album in what will be nearly 3 years, so coming off the heels of these two albums means we had a wide breadth of new material to choose from.” Sanchez said. “Playing the UK has always been really special to us. A lot of the bands we grew up with and idolized were from Britain, so to have success and see people appreciate the music we make is really special to the band as a whole”

Musically, ‘Afterman’ sees the band perfecting their powerhouse progressive rock, soul and even pop landscapes. The dual release also marks the return of original drummer Josh Eppard, who the band parted ways with in 2006, bringing with him his benchmark percussive grooves. Coheed and Cambria self-financed and co-produced ‘Afterman,’ alongside Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner, who produced the band’s first 3 albums, in Woodstock, NY. ‘Afterman’ was mixed by Rich Costey (Muse, The Shins, Foster the People) and Ryan Williams (30 Seconds To Mars).

“This is without a doubt, the most honest record I’ve ever written,” says Sanchez. “Though all the songs can be interpreted through our main character in the story, they were initially written in a very spontaneous manner.” “In the past,” he continues,” I’ve always had a predetermined idea of what the story was going to be when I approached the songs. With ‘The Afterman’ being a new story within the (Amory Wars) arc, I allowed the events of my life to drive the concept, and therefore opened up the songwriting to a fuller degree.”

In the story arc of The Afterman: Descension, we continue the conceptual storyline from volume one, where Sirius Amory, i.e., “The Afterman,” is a scientist/cosmonaut who goes on celestial mission and makes what is arguably the most important discovery ever known to mankind. But upon his return, he discovers his ambitiousness may have brought him fleeting fame, but also tragic repercussions.