Artist: COHEED AND CAMBRIA
Album: YEAR OF THE BLACK RAINBOW (CD)

Year: 2010
Media type: CD

The album will be released by Columbia in both a standard format and a deluxe edition including a 352-page Year of the Black Rainbow novel, penned by the lead singer Claudio Sanchez and New York Times bestselling author Peter David. In Europe the album will be released by Roadrunner Records.

The album is produced by Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction) and Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool). According to Sanchez, "they have helped us evolve our sound to be more powerful and dynamic than ever and we think it's definitely our best work to date." The new album also marks drummer Chris Pennie's studio debut with the band, who has been playing alongside Sanchez, lead guitarist Travis Stever and bassist Michael Todd since 2007. Conversely, it also completes the main tetralogy of The Amory Wars.

For those who have followed Coheed and Cambria's Amory Wars saga from the beginning, Year of the Black Rainbow will scratch the itch of fulfillment until it bleeds. This is the musical prequel (please leave your Star Wars jokes at the door) to vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Claudio Sanchez's saga, concluding the the longest concept album in rock history -- five volumes' worth.

It is lofty in its pretensions, but there is so much great music here, that even when its influences and filler are subtracted, it stands as a monolithic testament to singular ambition, focus, and realization. That said, like the other volumes in the adventure, this one can be taken completely on its own as a very solid album of hard and heavy yet melodic prog rock and metal. The lyrical references, while specific to the Amory Wars, are universal in their sentiments and emotions.

The set opens with a moody instrumental, full of ambience and a piano played sparely before erupting dynamically into the "The Broken," with dueling guitar lines between Sanchez and Travis Stever. Chris Pennie's drumming with booming tom-toms and kick drums, builds new rhythmic patterns while underscoring a basic mid-level hard rock chug. "Here We Are Juggernaut" is an anthem with a tight, catchy melody in both verse and chorus, with overdriven, riffing guitars, thunderous drums, and vocal harmonies that literally soar. "Pearl of the Stars" is an acoustically based, atmospheric ballad with a dubwise bassline by Mike Todd on the chorus. "In Flame of Error" and "When Skeletons Live" are stop-and-go examples of melodic prog metal at its best. The set closes with the title track, a dark, drifting soundscape of a tune that takes shape about halfway through its seven minutes and roars all the way to the finish for a stellar climax.

As a band, C&C either inspire rabid adoration or complete dismissal; that won't change with Year of the Black Rainbow. That said, any fan of heavy progressive rock music may find this music to be of compelling interest, whether one buys into the conceptual nature of the Amory Wars or not.

All lyrics written by Claudio Sanchez, all music composed by Coheed and Cambria except "One" and "Pearl of the Stars," written by Claudio Sanchez and Atticus Ross.

TRACKLIST CD:

1. "One" 1:54
2. "The Broken" 3:53
3. "Guns of Summer" 4:47
4. "Here We Are Juggernaut" 3:44
5. "Far" 4:54
6. "This Shattered Symphony" 4:26
7. "World of Lines" 3:18
8. "Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am)" 4:38
9. "Pearl of the Stars" 5:05
10. "In the Flame of Error" 5:29
11. "When Skeletons Live" 4:18
12. "The Black Rainbow" 7:33

LINE-UP:

Claudio Sanchez – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, theremin, programming, lyrics (1995–present)
Travis Stever – lead and rhythm guitar, lap steel guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer (1995, 1999–present)
Michael Todd – bass, backing vocals (1996–2006, 2007–present)
Chris Pennie – drums, percussion (2007–present)