Year of the Black Rainbow: A Fanboy's Expectations

It should come as no surprise that I am a fan of progressive rock, comic books, and science fiction. It should be less of a surprise then that my favorite band is Coheed and Cambria. It's not an obsession, like with other fans, but it is a very healthy fandom. I've seen them live (about) ten times, met the band once, met the singer (Claudio Sanchez) several times after, and posted on the fansite on a regular basis for a long time.

It's not obsessive, there are people far worse when it comes to Coheed. As of yet I do not have any logos tattooed, nor have I changed my legal name to any character's surname. These things happen with this band, seriously.

I love Coheed because they play well, write well, and Claudio was ambitious enough to try to tell a four part science fiction epic over five albums. These songs are not all heavy handed geek drivel, and you don't need to know what's going on to enjoy them. Most fans are aware that there is a story happening, but don't know a damn thing about it except that "The Crowing" is some kind of character and a lot of bad shit happens in the third album. I was one of the fans who followed more closely, trying to figure out what was happening in each scene of the story. I own most of the comics that explain the story so far (I'm missing the second half of Amory Wars for now, but the trade will make up for the 3 issues from Vol. 2 that I don't have).

Two days ago the fifth album was announced for early next year, Year of the Black Rainbow. Like thousands of other fans, I'm pretty stoked. This album tells the beginning of the story, rather than the end (Claudio's a geek too, and from what I can tell loved Star Wars enough to do a prequel in homage. He also wore a Boba Fett hoodie for NY Comic Con.) It will hopefully explain a few dozen plot holes, fill in who the hell Coheed and Cambria are a little more (the band is named after two characters that die in the first album), and I believe push for a more metal approach to how they write.

The past two years have been spent mostly touring and promoting the previous album with metal bands. The bulk of 2009 was split between Slipknot, Heaven & Hell, and recording. The Slipknot show leaned more towards metal than any other time I'd ever seen them. The relatively short set was all of the heaviest things they'd had over the past 3 albums (Second Stage Turbine Blade was a much lighter album, despite the grim content. More later.) It was probably to cater to Slipknot's fans, but the tour with Slipknot at all was a shock to most. Heaven & Hell makes sense at least, as both bands have stronger individual musicianship than Slipknot, whom excel with band unity and coherence.

The other push I expect towards metal comes from the individual tastes in the band. Sanchez and Travis Stever (guitar) both have roots in metal, growing up with Iron Maiden (with a fanboy myspace shot of the two with Bruce Dickinson, which is fucking awesome), Dio-Sabbath (Heaven & Hell), and many others that were less referenced in interviews.

They have a wide musical palate, but metal is still in the roots. The current drummer, Chris Penne, also comes from a VERY progressive metal background as the former drummer for Dillinger Escape Plan. If you've never heard them, check out "Panasonic Youth." You'll understand what I mean.

Really it only seems like Mic Todd (bass) grounds them out, but he's also a guitarist by nature. Most guitarists will have a greater appreciation for metal than other musicians, and we already know he can play the shit out of it. He ripped up scales on an acoustic right before the Neverender shows (a four night series, each night is a complete album played from start to finish. Mic's stuff was before night two in New York), and is relaxed enough to run with what's going on while adding just enough to make it his own.

If you have never heard Coheed and Cambria's music before, there's a few things to note:

1) Lyrical content ranges from sappy love songs ("Wake Up," "Light and the Glass") to murdering children ("Time Consumer," "Everything Evil," "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3"), to insane conversations with symbolic dogs and demonic bicycles ("Ten Speed [of God's Blood and Burial]," "The Hound [of Blood and Rank]") to things that no one really understands, but might be love songs about guns and basketball players turned characters ("The Velourium Camper I: Faint of Hearts," "33.")

2) Musically, the lyrics sometimes clash with the musical feeling. This paints an ironic sound scape that will have you singing along with things you wouldn't ever normally sing to. "Ten Speed" and "Faint of Hearts" are wonderful examples of this.

3) The story becomes very post modern towards the end, in an Animal-Man like shift where the Writer of the story becomes a character in themselves. It's a confusing story that is not fully fleshed out in the songs, leaving room for interpretations. That's what hooks people who are into this sort of thing.

4) Live shows are brutal for a band that is not always/usually all that heavy. People leave these shows with broken faces and trampled legs. I had to pull my girlfriend through a sea of people at Roseland Ballroom's show a few years ago to keep her from getting pulled under and trampled to death (great show.) They are worth seeing live despite the personal danger, as they perform better live than on the albums.

A final thought before doing something more productive than having a fanboy rant: Since they're huge Dio fans and he was recently diagnosed with cancer, I suspect that the reference to Rainbow in the new title is homage to him. If this is the case, then I think Ronnie (James Dio) would be/is honored and proud.