Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow

New York's finest Coheed and Cambria are back with their latest album, Year of the Black Rainbow. All of Coheed's previous efforts were concept albums embedded in a storyline called The Amory Wars. Their last album, 2007's No World For Tomorrow was the last chapter in that unfolding saga. This album is a prequel to that saga, showcasing Coheed and Cambria's tremendous and unique talent of telling a story through intricately crafted songs that describe a deeply enthralling storyline.

The album kicks off with one the disc's epic tracks, "The Broken" a hard edged, melodic rocker that features lead singer Claudio Sanchez's powerful and captivating vocals that pound through the speakers with great fury and intensity and captures the emotional essence of the song perfectly. "Guns of Summer" bumps it up a notch with furious guitar patterns and non-stop drums that make this song one of the standouts on a very rich and dynamic album. The album's first single, "Here We Are Juggernaut" is an epic and bombastic opus that makes dynamic use of the instrumentation at hand to create a standout piece that weaves the storyline into the song to create a unique and fulfilling listening experience that you just can't find anywhere else. "This Shattered Symphony" evokes the sounds of Led Zeppelin with Claudio's powerful vocals carrying the song to a whole new stratosphere and the epic guitars and pounding drums just add to the experience here on the album.

The album's second half starts off with my personal favorite track off the album, "World of Lines" a fast paced, melodic rocker that never stops until the very end with its resourceful guitars and blistering drums allowing the song to coast along with ease, "Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am)" is a slightly toned down effort with the guitars toned down a notch to give the listener a little variety along the way. "Pearl of the Stars" is an acoustic inspired tune that best showcases Claudio's beautiful and inspirational vocals that are revealed in its purest form right here. A totally unexpected surprise that might not be familiar territory for the prog-rockers, but they conquer it quite well on this track.

The album's last two tracks are "When Skeletons Live" a mid tempo, melodic rocker that teeters on the edge of becoming a fast paced tune but finds a comfortable balance to bring the best of both worlds together in one cohesive track. The album's title track does an excellent job of describing the whole storyline of the album through song and wraps up the whole album with a bevy of synthesized guitars and powerful drums, bringing everything together to create a synopsis of the album in one cohesive song. Coheed and Cambria have created a well constructed work of art here that bridges the gap between music and art. Some detractors out there might think they're trying to be Pink Floyd or The Mars Volta, but in my opinion they're light years apart from those bands and have created a universe all their own here with this epic saga. The deluxe edition of this album includes a 352 page novel penned by Claudio and author Peter David.

In retrospect, a well conceived and thought out effort that wraps up Coheed and Cambria's epic storyline with a prequel that shows their evolution from obscure little known band to prolific prog-rock pioneers and also shows that they aren't afraid to break the rules when it comes to combining music with a underlying narrative.

                                                                                                                         Album Score: 3.5/5

Track Listing:

1. One
2. The Broken
3. Guns of Summer
4. Here We Are Juggernaut
5. Far
6. This Shattered Symphony
7. World of Lines
8. Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am)
9. Pearl of the Stars
10. In the Flame of Error
11. When Skeletons Live
12. The Black Rainbow