- The band Coheed and Cambria released its fifth studio album, Year of The Black Rainbow, which builds upon the foundation that it had already established with fans.
Coheed and Cambria is one of the few popular bands these days that understands the importance of conceptual albums. However, Coheed takes it a step further. Its entire existence is based upon The Armory Wars, a comic written by front man Claudio Sanchez.
The Armory Wars is a five-part comic series, with a story line that follows Coheed and Cambria’s lyrics and two main characters that rightly serve as the band’s name.
Before the newest album, Coheed released its albums in order, beginning with The Second Stage Turbine Blade and completing the series with No World For Tomorrow. Their new album, Year of the Black Rainbow, is based on the first part of the comic series and follows a graphic novel by the same name.
For veteran fans of Coheed and Cambria, the release of this album on March 13 acted as a resolution to its conceptual catalog. Coheed manages to take conceptual writing to an entire new level, combining various artistic forums and creating a full musical and visual experience.
Those that enjoy Coheed’s classic metal feel and Sanchez’s vocal technique will view this album as a perfectly acceptable addition to their catalog. Year of the Black Rainbow contains the same formula as the other albums; a typical four or five solid tracks, with a few hardcore (and far less catchy) songs in between.
In order to fully understand where this group comes from, audible research is necessary. Its past four albums have brought outstanding consistency to the effect that Sanchez is trying to portray to his listeners. Others who don’t care for this style may think differently.
Out of that context, this may be seen as just another album fresh out of the easy-bake Coheed oven. Yet, what these critics fail to recognize is the level of difficulty that goes hand-in-hand with their musicianship, in both vocals and instrumentation. With each new album, Coheed and Cambria manages to better perfect its full-bodied metal sound that can be enjoyed equally by fans of the genre and those who think Metallica is for tools.
The fifth installment of the series starts out with a couple of strong, heavily rhythmic tracks that may discourage continued listening. Though these are disappointing, the album immediately improves from there, starting with the single, “Here We are, Juggernaut.” I tend to be skeptical towards album singles, because of the somewhat cheesy radio feel they present.
Coheed tramples upon that stereotype and instead showcases the most lyrical chorus of the album. From there, only excellence proceeds. “Far” is one of the best mellow songs Sanchez has written yet, along with “Made Out of Nothing,” the album’s heavy down-tempo track. Coheed continues its trend of implementing more complicated meter into its music with “In the Flame of Error,” which will be welcomed by fans of “The Willing Well” tracks off of Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness.
This album perfectly justifies why I’ve kept up with these guys since my sophomore year of high school. Compositionally, Coheed and Cambria remains one of the most unique groups of this genre; it has the ability to combine intensity and melodic beauty in perfect balance. Year of the Black Rainbow is the icing on this massive series’ cake. Coheed and Cambria fans, rejoice.
such a good band i’m loving the new album. coheed has never lagged with their music/releases. awesome new one