Sorry for the absence. My laptop's on the fritz again and I had to send it back for repairs yet again. Until then, I'm borrowing my brother's laptop. Today, we move onto the next song in the series for No World for Tomorrow -- "The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)."

I've always felt this album was similar to In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. The production sounds similar, and NWFT has many groovy and upbeat moments much in the same way IKSSE does. This song has a type of groove and beat that reminds me irresistibly of "Blood Red Summer." But, it's also clear the band is progressing in a different format. I'd almost classify this song as a watered down metal-esque tune.

Coheed and Cambria proved on their previous release that they liked to mess with synthesizers and electronics. Claudio made great use of it on his side project The Prize Fighter Inferno during the band's troubles in 2006. From the first second, it's clear the band decided to use this new direction. "The Hound" opens up with a catchy synthesizer. But then, the guitars come in and the rest of the song follows in a jumpy, hard-driven format. I love, ultimately, how the rhythms play together so well in this song; much of the guitar work accompanies Taylor's drumming.

I loved this song on the first play through. It remained my favorite for a long time as well, and jumped to the top of my all time play list. It's exactly this sort of upbeat, groovy quality to their music that makes this album as great as it is. Honestly, I don't care what anyone says about this album. It's solid.

Conceptually, I'm not sure what's really going on here. The only connection I can make between "the hound" and the story is the character known as Mayo Deftinwolf. To recap, Deftinwolf is Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan's top general and right hand man. Deftinwolf has been responsible for the deaths of Mariah, and the systematic destruction of Claudio Kilgannon's life by manipulating his parents. In the concept, Mayo is often referred to as "Ryan's hound" -- a fitting title. Given the lyrics, the song appears to be about Mayo, and perhaps a confrontation between him and Claudio. Only this time, Claudio is able to stand up against his enemy, enough to taunt him. At least, that's my thought.

Stay tuned for the next review.