Coheed And Cambria: Year Of The Black Rainbow

Coheed And Cambria has always been remarkable for the extended science-fiction tale that runs through its albums, one that’s also manifested as the comic-book series The Amory Wars (written by Coheed’s leader, Claudio Sanchez). But the band’s fifth full-length, Year Of The Black Rainbow, has higher aspirations: cinematic ones. The disc kicks off with “One,” an eerie, soundtrack-like instrumental that would feel right at home in a J-horror film. The rest of the album is similarly atmospheric, even when it colossally rocks. Reconciling its post-hardcore roots with the progressive-rock flourishes that have been eclipsing the band’s sound over the past couple albums, tracks like “Here We Are Juggernaut” and “World Of Lines” far outshine the recent output of Coheed’s closest peer, The Mars Volta—even when Year succumbs to its own gravity about halfway through. Still, bending the tonal and narrative demand of Amory—whose prequel is presented here—into an intricate, melodic, ultimately anthemic album couldn’t have been a breeze, but Sanchez and crew have dovetailed their two massive ambitions into an effortless, seamless whole. Now, with a novelized version of Year being released in conjunction with the CD, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that a film version could surface at some point. And even if it doesn’t, the disc’s widescreen scope makes such an epic easy to picture.