Artist: Coheed And Cambria
Title: Year Of The Black Rainbow
Label: Columbia
Genre: Progressive Rock
Bitrate: 209kbit av.
Time: 01:02:25
Size: 98.18 mb
Rip Date: 2010-04-08
Str Date: 2010-04-13
01. One 1:54
02. The Broken 3:53
03. Guns Of Summer 4:47
04. Here We Are Juggernaut 3:44
05. Far 4:53
06. This Shattered Symphony 4:25
07. World Of Lines 3:17
08. Made Out Of Nothing (All That I Am) 4:39
09. Pearl Of The Stars 5:04
10. In The Flame Of Error 5:27
11. When Skeletons Live 4:17
12. The Black Rainbow 7:35
13. Chamberlain (Demo) (Bonus Track) 4:21
14. The Lost Shepherd (Demo) (Bonus Track) 4:09
Release Notes:
So, in the process of writing this review, I wrote at least 4 different
introductory paragraphs TRYING to come up with something epic enough to
represent how incredibly badass Year of the Black Rainbow is, but the
best I came up with was an image of Claudio Sanchez holding up a
machine gun guitar and blasting apart Nazis that may have been zombies.
Seeing as how I am not a skilled enough artist/photoshopper to actually
put this mind-blowing picture together, this could very well be totally
worthless. However, all is not lost: just imagine that picture in your
head, and youÆll find a pretty good place to rest your thoughts as to
how Year of the Black Rainbow sounds.
In all honesty, you can also find a pretty easy sketch of the album by
thinking back to his solo project, The Prize Fighter Inferno. A lot
will be made of the albumÆs more electronic/industrial sound being
caused by Chris PennieÆs input, but a lot of the sounds can be traced
back pretty definitively to that side projects sound. In A+ B = C
terms, itÆs In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 plus My BrotherÆs
Blood Machine. For fans of the hair-metal of No World For Tomorrow and
who were expecting even more bombastic arena-filling riffs and
choruses, this may come as a slight disappointment. To older fans of
Coheedàwell, at least there isnÆt a song like ôJustice in Murderö here.
The shift to a more pop-industrial sound is probably going to be just
as controversial as either of the Good ApolloÆs shifts in sound.
For fans who just love Coheed or newcomers though, it really isnÆt any
sort of deal. The album kicks off with the duo of ôThe Brokenö and
ôGuns of Summerö which in their own ways display the new sides to the
band. ôThe Brokenö features the penchant Coheed still has for writing
epic, off kilter metal songs. The transition from the groove-metal
verse to the almost post rock atmosphere of the chorus is sublime, and
the weird ôblah blah blahö after the chorus add some flair to the whole
affair. Meanwhile, ôGuns of Summerö is easily the craziest sounding
song theyÆve ever written, and a point where you could absolutely say
Chris Pennie definitely helped out in a big way. The song constantly
shifts between mathy-rock and soaring choruses, but it never sounds
forced, something Coheed have had problems with in the past.
And thatÆs how much of the album progresses. ôFarö is a dreamy
electronic ballad that conquers its cheesiness by sublimely changing
its tones, even if its goes on a bit too long still. ôThis Shattered
Symphony/World of Linesö bring back some of that NWFT sound, but
without all the stupid guitar solos and voice modulation. ôThe Black
Rainbowö is an incredibly odd closer, eschewing the previous standards
set for Coheed epics and simply progressing through a macabre, melodic
first couples minutes till the concluding wails of ôitÆs over, itÆs all
fallen apartàö, never exploding into some great climax but instead
transitioning perfectly into what would be the next chapter in the
ÆstoryÆ of Coheed & Cambria.
ThereÆs a lot of goodness to be found here (with only a brief mention,
ôHere We Are Juggernautös chorus could be one of the defining moments
of the bands career), and thatÆs good considering that itÆs biggest
weakness is it doesnÆt really feel like an evolution. The sound is
different, but it doesnÆt deviate from the formula that Coheed have
established. ItÆs mostly all the same pieces from the bands previous
records put into a different context. While itÆs sort of a fresh take
on their musical canon, it could afford with more new songwriting
techniques and maybe less vocal effects. Still, Year of the Black
Rainbow is a consistently great album that may have required just a bit
more panache, and certainly lives up to its predecessors.
Deluxe edition including 2 previously unreleased bonus tracks. Enjoy!
sire@hush.ai