**The Album Reviews published on Dying Scene are written and submitted by regular users of the site. These users are not professional music critics nor are they paid for what they write. If you disagree with an album’s rating, feel free to voice your opinion and give it your own rating in the comments. If you’d like to submit your own review do it here.
Great albums are hard to find. We no longer hold artists accountable for the level of cohesiveness of an entire album; we rally behind the success of their singles instead. This is utter bullshit. I don’t know if we should blame the music industry for forcing artists to pump out albums to make a quick buck on singles sales or if we should blame the artists themselves for not taking the time to put together a solid album that can withstand the test of time, but either way we should commend those artists who do. Coheed and Cambria is definitely one of bands who have consistently released well thought out albums and Year Of The Black Rainbow is no exception.
From track one of “Year Of The Black Rainbow” I was drawn in. The band has still managed to stay true to their mechanical, robotic sound without replicating progressions. Tracks like “Here we are Juggernaut” and “When Skeletons Live” bring the harder, darker violent sound while tracks like “Far” and “Pearl Of The Stars” bring a lighter more emotional sound that balances out the whole release. Chris Pennie is an absolute genius on the drums. “Guns Of Summer” was definitely the track where he shined the most. You can hear his immense versatility in “Far” where the simplicity of the rhythm is played out like a hammer crashing out on the overall melodic sound of the song. The best part about this album is it’s maturity. Claudio Sanchez has really found the happy balance in his voice. The melodies are smarter and more sophisticated with less of the normal over the top solos that we have grown to love. I found the album very dark and beautiful. The extra sound effects and production enhance the overall listen of the album. Each track gels into the other seamlessly. I would recommend taking a listen with a nice set of headphones. It’s not really set up for particular singles, it’s more of a complete package but my favorite tracks are “The Broken”, “Far” and “The Black Rainbow” which wraps up the album perfectly. All in all, another great Coheed & Cambria album.
I must say that I’m not a diehard C&C fan. True, I’ve followed the band since their first album and have continued to purchase anything that they put out but I can’t tell you anything about the “four-album cycle detailing futuristic battles among the stars”. Either way, weather you are a seasoned C&C listener or not this album is worth checking out.
by Staff Writer AnarchoPunk.LA
Edge the Movie, a documentary that tackles the “Straight Edge” lifestyle, is now available for pre-order. You can see the trailer here.