I've heard one C&C in my life and only heard it once. Might take Ruslans approach as I don't want to listen to them at all lol.
About 15 years ago, I worked with a kid that knew I was a big Maiden fan. He brought in a CD and told me I'd love it. It sounded intriguing, but I couldn't get past the vocals. Really strange sound.
I agree with that person that Coheed has some significance Maiden influence. But I can't argue with the fact that Claudio Sanchez has a Geddy-Lee-tier weird voice. I suspect it's an "either it works for you or it doesn't" thing and nothing we send will change your mind, but maybe 15 years has changed things.
At about the same time, I also worked with another kid that knew I was a DT fan and he made me a copy of Deadwing and Ghost Reveries. That's how I know those albums.
Interesting. So do you know those albums pretty well? That, in my opinion, would make both those artists really tough nuts to crack, because those strike me as the albums from each of them that would be most likely to appeal to you.
So I do know Ghost Reveries pretty well. That album did stick with me, but the band did not. I listened to their follow up once and couldn't tell you the first thing about it. And I have heard Heritage a few times.
I don't like Michael Akerfeldt. As much as I don't care for his harsh vocals, his cleans are worse. That is my memory, so we'll see if anything has changed.
As far as Deadwing goes, I remember liking Arriving Somewhere and The Start of something Beautiful, though I've heard neither in a dozen years. I don't remember like very much of it at all. But again, we're talking 12-15 years ago.