The Prize Fighter Inferno - My Brother's Blood Machine

Coheed and Cambria have been a buzz name in the indie-emo scene for a number of years now. Their rabid fans are particularly keen on the ongoing story that Coheed presents. It is based around the McCloud family and it has the fans eating it up. Claudio Sanchez, the Coheed and Cambria frontman, is using The Prize Fighter Infrerno as a solo project. However, the lyrical content is still very much in the lines of Coheed as the McCloud family continues to crop up. This makes The Prize Fighter Inferno automatically essential to Coheed fans.

The actual music will feel familiar to Coheed fans, though mostly due to Sanchez's vocals. His voice is delicate and threatens to break at any given moment. Like a feather afraid to disturb anything. On the choruses he layers up his voice and the combined effort gives more punch to them.

Beyond the vocals, the music feels like a solo project. There are two sides to it. There are electronic tracks that utilize a keyboard sound that might sound familiar to Radiohead fans. Then there are acoustic guitar tracks which would be quite at home on one of the early Dashboard Confessional albums. Unfortunately, the Radiohead-esque parts are nowhere near as creative or engaging as Radiohead. The acoustic tracks don't evoke the raw power that Dashboard succeeds at.

There are still some very interesting tracks that work really well on a stand alone basis. "Run, Gunner Recall, Run! The Town Wants You Dead!" is a good example of this, combining a great acoustic guitar groove with handclaps and harmonica. It is this kind of earthy feel that Sanchez should have exploited more often. The electronic stuff just feels remarkably lifeless and dead, making the listen wearisome.

The Prize Fighter Inferno is what would happen if Radiohead decided to go emo. At times it is dizzying in some of its ideas. But most of the time it is just rather dreary and cold. Those who are attracted to Sanchez's voice will be more excited about this release. However, most will probably agree that the obvious solo quality of the album just makes them wish for a new Coheed and Cambria album instead.