Coheed & Cambria: More Than Just a Band

By Sean Thorfinnson
Contributing Writer

Coheed and Cambria is not your average rock band (although, what rock band is average?). No, this band has something more to offer. Something that stands apart from their music, but essentially creates its lyrics. What makes this musical group so much different than any other group? The answer may surprise you.

Claudio Sanchez has been the lead singer, writer and guitarist of Coheed and Cambria since their beginning days in 2001, in New York.

However, Claudio is much more to Coheed and Cambria. He is the creator of the sci-fi comic book series entitled “The Amory Wars.” The name of the band comes from two main characters that are featured in Sanchez’s comic book series.

That is not the only tie-in, however. Each album the band puts out is also correlated to the story line of the comic book. “The albums, the music, they live separate from ‘The Amory Wars,’ they are different beasts. They obviously still depend on each other because the lyrics in our music come from ‘The Amory Wars,’” says Sanchez.

The fact that the lyrics come from someplace else, that the lyrics literally tell a story, is what sets Coheed and Cambria apart from just any other rock band.

Coheed and Cambria currently has five albums out, their newest being “Year of the Black Rainbow.” Although the albums have closely followed their comic book counterparts in chronological order, this new album is actually a prequel to the whole story.

When asked if this was a planned endeavor or a spur of the moment thing, Claudio said “It’s something I always wanted to do from the beginning, to get back to where it all started and make music to go along with it all. The story wasn’t complete until we went back to the beginning.”

One of the best things about this band is that each album brings something new, something different to the table, but at the same time it keeps what makes the band familiar. The voice of Claudio Sanchez is very unique, almost unmistakable. The lyrics can be thoroughly enjoyed by all sorts of people, whether fans of the comics or not.

The uniqueness of this band does not stop there. This band has been known to be very generous to its fans and frankly, everyone else around them. For instance, their newest music video/short film is being introduced to the world not on MTV or VH1 or any other music-based mainstream television station, but instead on G4.

“G4 has been very good to us through the years, and we decided to kind of give them a little thanks and deliver our video through them,” says Claudio.

Additionally, fans who purchased the special edition Year of the Black Rainbow album received a “Black Card,” allowing early entrances to shows, exclusive downloads, and even the chance to meet the band prior to a show.

“That was kind of a group idea of something that we could give back to the fans. We are always looking at ways to give back and we thought that would be a good idea.” Sanchez replied when asked about the Black Card promotion.

Coheed and Cambria are currently on tour promoting their latest album, “Year of the Black Rainbow.” The newest “Amory Wars” novel of the same name is on sale now.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

If You Go

What: Coheed & Cambria
Where: The Venue at The Hub
When: Tues, Oct 12, 8pm
Info: 701.232.6767