On their eighth studio album, Coheed and Cambria have taken their dark pop sensibilities and left behind ‘The Amory Wars’ for their first non-conceptual release and come up with an infectious record in ‘The Color Before the Sun’. Despite its heavy pop leanings, this is a sophisticated, well-arranged album with plenty of variety and it makes for interesting listening.

Coheed’s sound moves effortlessly between catchy hard rock and a deeper more intense vibe; opener ’Island’ being particularly hooky and pleasantly familiar, before segueing into the harder edged intensity of ‘Eraser’ and the atmospheric ‘Colors’, which is nicely restrained and possesses a poignant piano fade-out.

There are a number of other atmospheric moments on the album, such as the acoustic ‘Ghost’ and album closer ‘Peace Mountain’, which eventually builds to a rousing finish; which is something of a trademark, as the mid-tempo ‘Here to Mars’ and the prog rock-tinged ‘Atlas’ also aim for some epic highs, with anthemic choruses and searing guitar lines.

When the song is more straightforward is where Coheed and Cambria fall a little flat; ‘Young Love’ and ’You Got Spirit Kid’ not really offering up much beyond an insistent riff and a slight air of punkish pop. This is stark contrast to stand out track ‘The Audience’, which is a big tune with a meandering heaviness that is intensely textured with good solid riffing and pulsating bass; throw in some well placed time changes and you’ve got six minutes of epic rock – great track.

On the whole, ‘The Color Before The Sun’ is highly listenable and on it you can hear a band spreading its wings a little, free from the constraints of previous work; they have come up with an enjoyable record, jam-packed with impeccably executed, high quality pop-tinged metal.

4/5

‘The Color Before the Sun’ by Coheed and Cambria is released on October 16th on 300 Entertainment.

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Words by Edward Layland (@EdwardLayland)