Year of The Black Rainbow

The trouble with concept art, be it music or anything else, is that either people tend to judge based on this premise, condemning something because of its medium, or they fail to take it into account, judging it on face value. For a band such as Coheed and Cambria, it is this that tends to colour opinions of them, be they music moguls or the man on the street, and yet the four piece; drummer Chris Pennie, bassist Michael Todd, guitarist Travis Stever and vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez have just released their fifth studio album, a prequel to their previous albums. Still, critical acclaim or not, the band have what many would call a rabid fan base – so much so that they recently won MTV’s March Musical Madness, a play off of 64 bands, voted for by fans – and they have a willingness to constantly evolve their music, just as the concept it echoes advances.

(The band. R-L: Stever, Sanchez, Pennie, Todd.)

Indeed, for a concept as massive in scope as Coheed’s, it is hard not to be drawn into the world. The albums follow, or at least echo, the tales told within the universe of Heaven’s Fence, a fictional environment created by frontman Claudio Sanchez. A collection of 78 planets, held together by a beam of light known as the Keywork, Heaven’s Fence serves as the setting for the tale, as protagonist Claudio Kilgannon faces up to his destiny of becoming the Messiah figure of The Crowing, and defeating the evil Wilhelm Ryan – the man who submitted Heaven’s Fence to his rule, and caused the death of Claudio’s family. In amongst these stories, told in the comic books ‘The Amory Wars’, there are revelations concerning Claudio’s parents, Coheed and Cambria, as well as other individuals who are referenced in song lyrics, such as Ambellina, the angel-like Prise who becomes Claudio’s mentor. Clearly, with such huge ambition and scale, the tale told by Coheed and Cambria is bound to draw attention, and perhaps criticism, from some quarters. However, the tale itself is a sweeping sci-fi saga, with many varied undercurrents, such as love, loss and religious subservience, as well as a healthy dose of plot twists to keep it fresh. The distinction must be drawn then between the comics and story, and the music. One is there to tell a tale, the other merely to add lyrical interpretations and melodic pictures to the storyboard.

(The Keywork, the band's symbol and representation of the beams of energy holding Heaven's Fence together.)

Certainly, the band’s albums can be seen as a part of the story arc – from the opening events in The Second Stage Turbine Blade, to the Empire Strikes Back repercussions in In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 and the revelations in Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness and Volume II: No World For Tomorrow. Indeed, the albums contain all the imagery of the comics, thanks to killer hooks, lyrical suggestions and epic guitar riffs that conjure up the images of a universe unlike our own. However, they are musically independent of the comics, a series of progressive prog-rock and post-hardcore songs that are remarkably hard to classify, yet all feature the unique vocal dexterity of Claudio and the ever evolving musicality of the band. Still, if one is familiar with the comics, then the music has yet another plane of resonance, for only a fan would understand the references to a certain Patrick in the song 33.

So, how to finish such a grandiose story if it has reached a conclusion? Quite simply, go back in time – a la A Phantom Menace – to before the story begins. This exactly what the band have done, creating the album Year of The Black Rainbow as a prequel, telling the story of Claudio’s parents, Coheed and Cambria. Released with a deluxe edition – containing a novel penned by Sanchez and novelist Peter David – the album certainly appeals to fans, filling in the gaps in the story, filling in some of the more background characters...but that is enough of that, lest I say too much.

On, then, to the album itself. Unlike the aforementioned Phantom Menace, Coheed have delivered a punchy, proggy, technically excellent album that acts well alone and as a brilliant underscore to The Amory Wars. Opening track ‘One’ is typical of Coheed’s opening songs, an atmospheric piece that ramps up tension, with melodic tones creating the air of a battlefield before a charge, before launching into ‘The Broken’ a drifting piece of prog that dances into an anthemic chorus before diving into a driving riff that, alongside some brutal drumming, keeps you on your toes. This is followed by the heavier ‘Guns of Summer’ with sweeping guitar effects, and duelling harmonies that are punctuated by Sanchez’s vocals. The album is then blown wide open by what is perhaps the most thunderous song on the album, ‘Here We Are Juggernaut’. Overdriven guitars and anthemic vocals combine with killer hooks and majestic harmonies to make this perhaps one of the most memorable songs of all five albums of material. Skipping ahead (so as not to spoil all of the album), the softer ‘Pearl of the Stars’ breaks up the heavy guitars with an atmospheric and emotional ballad, acoustically driven but still catchy as other songs on the album. ‘In the Flame of error’ and ‘Where Skeletons Live’ are excellent examples of prog at work, looping riffs and darting vocal harmonies, overdriven guitars and pulsing drum beats. The album ends with the titular ‘Year of the Black Rainbow’, a song that ties both the album together at the end, bringing out a dark, drifting atmosphere that then roars to a crescendo, as well as the entire concept, with the final seconds of the song bleeding into the first seconds of The Second Stage Turbine Blade, the next part of the story.

So, final thoughts. A magnificently executed album, Year of the Black Rainbow manages to mesh the overall scope of The Amory Wars into a tightly written and executed series of melodies, hooks and lyrics that underlines the concept without weakening it. Standing alone as a great piece of prog and post-hardcore music, the lyrics and music are universal in their emotion and message, but hold a special significance for any fans of The Amory Wars, showing how it is possible for critical success and conceptual story to hold hands. Only one question remains.

Where to now?