New listeners of the band will deem this record an instant classic. Older fans may struggle with the new direction of some of the tracks.

“The Amory Wars” saga has been concluded with Coheed and Cambria’s latest and perhaps final album entitled “Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow.”

The graphic novel written by front man Claudio Sanchez serves as the centralized theme of the bands existence, creating not just a concept album, but a concept series that has stretched the length of four albums dating back to their 2002 debut “Second Stage Turbine Blade.”

The story, heavily rooted in science fiction, details the struggles of Claudio Kilgannon, son of Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon. After discovering that his entire family has been murdered by Wilhelm Ryan, master of the Keywork (the universe), in part of a villainous plot to destroy his rivals, Claudio seeks vengeance upon him.

Throughout his journeys, Claudio discovers he is the messiah who can save the souls of the Keywork only by destroying it, if he chooses to accept his fate.

The story of interplanetary conquests comes to a climactic finish on the album with a magnificent five-part opus simply titled “The End Complete.” The final track, “On the Brink,” is similar to the last song on their previous album and includes guitars reminiscent of some Pink Floyd material.

Clocking in at somewhere over 20 minutes, this dynamic piece proves that Coheed and Cambria are one of the most underappreciated rock bands of this era.

Fans of the older Coheed sounds may be slightly disappointed to find this album a safer sounding sequel to 2005’s “From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness.” The band trades in their punk roots for heavy progressive rock sound with epic ’80s-style guitar solos on nearly every track, making it friendly to newcomers and the radio alike.

This new sound was born when questions of a possible band break up came into play, causing Claudio to enlist the help of professional songwriters to further his own career if Coheed and Cambria were to disband. Eventually, when the band made peace, some of these songs made their way onto the record.

The album’s first single, “The Running Free,” is one of these songs. Longtime fans will find this song to be a turn-off. It’s almost too poppy, and the catchy chorus is complete overkill. This just isn’t the Coheed that many fans know and love. It sounds like a radio-alienated hybrid of Blink-182 and Rush.

For the most part, “No World for Tomorrow” is a solid album – with few exceptions – from start to finish. Stand-out tracks include “Radio Bye Bye,” part III of “The End Complete,” and “Gravemakers & Gunslingers.”

New listeners of the band will deem this record an instant classic. Older fans may struggle with the new direction of some of the tracks here, but overall will find “The End Complete” a proper close to the saga.

For now it looks as though the story of “The Armory Wars” as well as Coheed and Cambria have run their course, but like any great saga you can always cross your fingers in hopes of a prequel.

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