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A mysteriously dark interlude of piano and sonorous strings foreshadows the fusion of sounds in the 12 tracks of Coheed and Cambria’s new album Year of the Black Rainbow released April 13.
While some tracks evoke an industrial progressive sound that is, at times, hard to follow due to the lack of prominent rhythm, other tracks exhibit a classic alternative Coheed and Cambria sound. Creating more diversity, there are a couple tracks rendering the softer side of the band.
The single “Here We Are Juggernaut” exemplifies the tone of the album bringing back the classic Coheed and Cambria sound incorporating progressive, punk, heavy metal and post-hardcore undertones combined with strong lyrics and hints of screaming lyrics such as “No, this is not your playground/It’s my heart/We were stupid/We got caught.”
Other tracks, such as “Guns of Summer,” provide listeners with a more experimental progressive sound mixing sporadic percussion tabs and guitar riffs in the first verse.
The lyrics appear to be the lone component allowing the song to develop leading up to the chorus where strong guitar pieces create a more fluent and understandable rhythm before coming to an abrupt halt, leaving the listener hanging.
Stepping further out of their original sound, Coheed and Cambria present a couple of soft love songs, such as “Far” and “Pearl of the Stars.”
A stagnant guitar solo outlines the mood of “Far” followed by the melodic voice of Claudio Sanchez singing “I welcome this pain/Breathing down on me/Is it your eyes/That choose not to see?”
The chorus brings an intense drum beat and a catchy style of vocalization.
On the other hand, “Pearl of the Stars” is a faint acoustic track depicting a man’s love of a woman and the his inability to replace her with another woman once she has made her leave through lyrics including “Each night I wish to God He’d let her rest/This hurts me more than any man could bear/She’s my angel from the West/There will never be one to take her place.”
The idiosyncratic nature of this track is that it touches on intimate details of life through lyrics such as “And when the world burns apart/There’ll be a place for your car” while maintaining a romantic caliber referring to the woman as his “pearl of the stars.”
All in all, if you’re looking for a replica of any of Coheed and Cambria’s previous albums, expect a slight change.
Year of the Black Rainbow reveals the band’s innovative complexion bringing in both experimental tracks that seem foreign as well as heart-felt tracks that truly show the romantic side of these multi-inspirational rockers.
