Claudio Sanchez, the leading man of the interstellar rock band Coheed and Cambria, is arguably at his best when telling musical stories that interconnect with other media—creating the comic book series The Amory Wars for BOOM! alongside a number of their albums saw an overarching narrative that lasted years and closed the gap between concept albums and comic books.
More recently, in Coheed and Cambria's three-decade-spanning career, the group has taken advantage of the advancement and acceleration of technology to utilize animation in their music videos. So depicting these tales in real-time for those who enjoy reading them on the page is a more than welcome addition to flesh out the story.
Coheed's current overarching story is Vaxis, with Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures being their most recently released album and Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind currently available for pre-order ahead of a May release. The band has been utilizing animation in many of their music videos since. However, it is worth mentioning that in their decades-long career, the occasional animation made it to videos in the past, but never to the level that the band has turned to for their new stories.
Toys: An Unheavenly Christmas Carol and Rise Naianasha: Cut the Cord were the first two Vaxis titles to be animated, and now the band has unveiled a stunning and jaw-dropping addition in The Liars Club. Though the video just launched yesterday, we've got a full breakdown of the events along with images depicting the video's animation style along with the lyrics, and finally, the full music video at the bottom!
The video opens with a laptop flashing the title of the song and giving directorial credit for the music video to Marco Pavone (Tropico, Extra). Shortly after, viewers see the protagonists of the story storming the "Cross Pharmaceutical Therapeutic Research" Facility by means of violent and bloody force.
Shortly after, a young child is shown in a bed under the "care" of a small robot as he shakes attached to wires. Our protagonist couple continues their assault on the facility and finds many creatures trapped in cages and experimented on with different serums much like the child in the bed, seemingly without a cure, so say the lyrics in verse one.
Liars
It's the fear that wakes us up
The truth that things are such a mess
Far beyond repair
Your mind outta service
Hard to find the words worth saying
What we do to deserve this
Everything seems broken when you look at it that way
Oh, it's a disease
And there ain't no cure
Oh, the truth is such a bore
Oh, do you want me to lie?
'Cause I could do it, baby, I could do it
Lie to you
Please ask me to
'Cause life feels so much better
When we just avoid the truth
Baby are you okay
To lie with me?
It isn't long before our protagonists find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place - the rock being caught up to by security and the hard place being the experimental centipede-like beast depicted above that breaks loose in the facility and stampedes.
Luckily our heroes can position themselves so that the rampant experiment shreds its way through the storm trooper-like security forces. All the while, the video returns to the child and robot regularly alternating between the young boy in his bed and the colorful and intriguing world of wonder happening within his mind as he lies there - so says the song.
Deep in disgrace, with empty retreats
Farther than it seems to be
The older I creak the pain in my body
Longing for the things I've not achieved
Well, I guess I'll accept this garbage
Death behind the wheel with my momma staring
Jealousy here in the backseat
Oh, do you want me to lie?
'Cause I could do it, baby, I could do it
Lie to you
I'm begging you
'Cause life feels so much better
When we just avoid the truth
Baby are you okay
To lie with me?
Near the end of the song, Coheed follows through with another 80s reference after frontman Claudio Sanchez made it clear they would be doing so when releasing Jessie's Girl 2 with Rick Springfield and the inclusion of changing their number to 867-530(9)5. This time it's Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal that gets a shout-out with "Baby are you okay, are you okay with it?" ringing in tune with the song it pays homage to.
As the chorus repeats, the action ramps up, seeing our protagonists lead the monster to freedom and even help it destroy any army stragglers that remain standing. Taking over the ship, the duo finally reaches the robot, which turns out to be working for them and keeping care of their child in the bed. With a solemn look, the parents "lie with" the child with an open ending and a teaser from a being above, watching over them.
Baby, are you okay?
Oh are you okay with it?
Baby, are you okay?
Okay with it?
'Cause I can do it baby
Oh, 'cause I can do it
Oh, 'cause I can do it
Oh, do you want me to lie?
'Cause I could do it, baby, I could do it
Lie to you
Please ask me to
'Cause life feels so much better
When we just avoid the truth
Baby are you okay
To lie with me?
'Cause I could do it, baby, I could do it
Lie to you
I'm begging you
'Cause I'd feel so much better
When we just avoid the truth
Baby are you okay
To lie with me?
What do you guys think of these preview images and lyrics to Coheed and Cambria's The Liars Club animated music video? Be sure to check the entire thing out for yourself below and share your take in the usual spot!
Coheed and Cambria's new album Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind will be available on May 27. Pre-order the limited edition box set here.