YotBR: Behind the Concept
This is a beginner’s guide to the story of the Coheed and Cambria albums. I am not going to go into detail about planet names and specific details like that because it will only convolute the story and there’s only so much space I have for each post.
In order for any of this to make sense you have to understand some basic background shit. The Coheed universe is a collection of planets and stars bound together by a field of energy called the “Keywork” (the symbol for the band). Within the Keywork there are many races, but the three main ones are Mage (powerful beings that wield lots of magic and make decisions for their sectors of the universe), Prise (the angels who follow the will of “God”), and Man.
I will be going through the albums as they happen in the Amory Wars story. |
| 1 |  | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Prophecy:
"If Man should decide to dabble in my affairs, then guardians must intervene. But, should I come forth to change the face of Man with you there to challenge me -- then I shall return with the stars to destroy' all I have made. Whether Man or I present that danger will not be told in the coming." |
| 2 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
The characters:
Wilhelm Ryan- A mage thirsting for power and control of Heaven's Fence
Mayo Detinwolf- Wilhelm Ryan’s right hand man.
Dr. Leonard Hohenberger-A geneticist
Pearl- Dr. Hohenberger’s wife
Coheed- An IRO-bot Hohenberger created. His left arm is embedded with a series of massive blades. His right arm can turn into a cannon.
Cambria- An IRO-bot Hohenberger created. She has telekinetic abilities.
Inferno/Jesse- An IRO-bot clone of Hohenberger. His military coordinator. |
| 3 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
One:
As the Mage Wars erupt across Heaven’s Fence a black rainbow opens across the sky. Beneath it a father, Dr. Hohenberger, finds his son killed in the crossfires of a riot protesting Wilhelm Ryan’s violent campaign. (It’s just an instrumental, but I like to imagine this as the background to him finding his son dead). |
| 4 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
The Broken:
The loss of his son drives a wedge between Dr. Hohenberger and his wife. The song is a back and forth between husband and wife as he tries to navigate his way through her grief and what needs to be done to “fix” the world. The Prise, afraid that Wilhelm Ryan may actually be God (as stated in the prophecy) refuse to move on him but instead instill with the doctor the knowledge to create three “IRO-Bots” (humans created with the DNA of the Prise and thus gifted with super human strength among other things). |
| 5 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Guns of Summer:
Dr.Hohenberger decides to create Jesse, Coheed, and Cambria as a means to save the world and save his marriage. He sends the three out on “terrorist” missions to wreck havoc across the Fence. Coheed is an IRO-Bot with massive blades that he can push from his left arm. His right arm is an energy cannon. Cambria is telekinetic and has other psychic abilities (not mentioned in the song just important to know). |
| 6 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Here We Are Juggernaut:
On one particular mission the trio stumble upon a mining facility that is actually drawing power (and subsequently the souls) from the Keywork to fuel a massive weapon of Wilhelm Ryan’s. A battle ensues and, as Coheed and Cambria fight their way out they come to terms with their growing fondness and attraction to each other. This event also attracts the attention of Mayo Dettinwolf and Wilhelm Ryan, who now have faces and names to the previously unknown rebellion. |
| 7 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Far:
Despite the trio’s success at causing Ryan problems across his galaxy, Pearl Hohenberger still remains emotionally distant from her husband as she blames him for the death of their son. Dr. Hohenberger feels like he himself is changing as well, becoming more monstrous as his trio of IRO-Bots cause death and destruction across Heaven’s Fence. |
| 8 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
This Shattered Symphony:
After Pearl is abducted by Mayo Dettinwolf, Dr.Hohenberger is given an ultimatum: Hand over Coheed and Cambria or Pearl dies. He also commands the doctor to create a virus that will cause the disintegration of the keywork. The doctor laments the decision (save his wife or betray her vision of revenge). In his inner dialogue he also laments the fact that he shut down the budding romance between Coheed and Cambria, forcing them to remember the mission instead of allowing their love to cloud their judgment. |
| 9 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
World of Lines:
Pearl and Wilhelm verbally spar, Pearl refusing to give up despite the horrible images and ideas that Wilhelm plants in her head. She still believes in her cause at this point and has not been broken from the mental torture she’s undergone. |
| 10 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am):
After days that feel like years of mental torture, Pearl is broken. In her last moments of sanity she thinks back on her relationship with Leonard and how she could have been a better person before succumbing to her madness. |
| 11 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Pearl of the Stars:
Another love song. Dr. Hohenberger is in anguish over the pain his wife is enduring and thinking about, if she dies before he can get to her, that he will take his own life to join her. The song is really just a reinforcement of the fact that he’ll do anything to protect her, even if it is ultimately against her wishes. This child he refers to is Josephine, the cure he is developing to stop the virus within Coheed and Cambria. |
| 12 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
In the Flame of Error:
Returned to the doctor with a pistol and informed by Dettinwolf that her husband betrayed her to bring her home, Pearl takes her own life. Mad with grief, the doctor blames himself for her death, the death of Coheed and Cambria, and everyone set to die in the coming apocalypse. Holding her dead body, his house burning behind him, the doctor replays his decisions in his mind and sets himself out on one last vendetta. |
| 13 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
When Skeletons Live:
This one is a bit of a head scratcher because it covers the same ground as the previous song. With Pearl dead, Dr. Hohenberger sends Jesse to go rescue Coheed and Cambria and he prepares to kill Mayo Dettinwolf, who is preparing to make an announcement at an upcoming rally. |
| 14 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
The Black Rainbow:
Jesse, having rescued and put Coheed and Cambria into a state of unconsciousness, erases the memories of the two. The song is him lamenting about the end of things and how, one day, he will have his revenge on Wilhelm Ryan. |
| 15 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Chamberlain (Demo):
A song that would have come early in the album (potentially a replacement for “Guns of Summer”). Wilhelm Ryan taunts those who try to defy him as he pretty much decimates any who stand in his way. It pretty much just chronicles his rise to power and how he eventually is seen as God. This would have been an incredible second track, following “The Broken”. One of Coheed’s best tracks. |
| 16 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
The Lost Sheppard (Demo):
Presumably a replacement for “When Skeleton’s Live”. Pearl has committed suicide, he’s handed over Coheed and Cambria, and he’s abandoned his initial vendetta. Lost to his grief and madness, this song is about his suicide mission to assassinate Mayo Dettinwolf. |
| 17 | | Coheed and Cambria
Year of the Black Rainbow
Hush:
Honestly, I have no idea why none of these demos are on this album. This song would probably come in the middle of the album when Mayo Dettinwolf approaches Dr.Hohenberger with his ultimatum and the doctor deciding that he cannot live without Pearl. |
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