Coheed and Cambria - The Color Before the Sun

Coheed and Cambria
The Color Before the Sun
2015

It has been awhile since you have heard anything from Coheed and Cambria that was not part of their sci-fi epic The Amory Wars. It was seven albums following a story that was always a bit on the vague side despite the bands adherence to crafting it. This album however takes a more personal look at the band, and frontman Claudio Sanchez's life and struggles. It is a peak behind the curtain for a band who always was able to keep listeners and fans for that matter at an arms length. Everything on The Color Before the Sun is classic coheed prog rock. The guitars wail and Sanchez's unmistakable voice lets out high pitched run after run. The music is good but it does seem to lose some of the fire that The Amory Wars had, that passion for something not real does not seem to translate quite as well to something that is. However there is some real heart here as Sanchez goes through chronicling his confined life in New York city and the eventual birth of his son Atlas (also a song title).

For the most part the album follows a post hardcore pattern that has shaped most of their work and they really do not deviate. While there may be an emotional heart in the lyrics, there is far less to hang on to in the actual music. They have done these types of songs before so there is little surprise when you feel as if you have heard these same melodies for many albums now. However the move towards more personal songwriting does show some growth in a band that held very tight to their original plan of only telling The Amory Wars. There is definitely less fun and excitement, which Coheed and Cambria are known for, on this record but the heart at the center of the album makes up for it. The Color Before the Sun then lands somewhere in the middle; it is a transition but still holds on to a bit of the past. Only time will tell which direction Coheed and Cambria will go, but for now they seem to be on the right path.

6.9 out of 10