Coachella Artist Spotlight: Coheed And Cambria

I don’t know what’s more distinguishable, singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez’s frizzy hair or his high-pitched vocals. What I do know is that both have the ability to suck you into the amazing sound that is Coheed and Cambria, which blends sounds of rock, metal and bits of hardcore. They have toured with the likes of AFI (which is where I first saw them), Linkin Park, Slipknot, The Used, Avenged Sevenfold and more.

With their new album, Year of the Black Rainbow, set to be released April 13 and a spot on night 2 of this year’s Coachella, you surely will be hearing plenty about Coheed and Cambria.

Click more to find out about Coheed and Cambria!

The band originated in 1995 under the name Shabütie and released a few records under that name, including the album Delirium Trigger. Sanchez wrote a science-fiction story called The Amory Wars, which told the tale of Coheed and Cambria, and would soon become the name of their band. They also decided to theme all of their future albums off the story.

In 2002 they released their first studio album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade. The album featured a guest appearance by Dr. Know of Bad Brains, one of the pioneers of hardcore-punk music. They followed the album up with tours of the US and Japan. In 2003 the band released their second studio album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, which featured the singles “A Favor House Atlantic” and “Blood Red Summer.”

The success of the previous album caught the attention of Columbia Records, who signed the band to a multi-album deal. In 2005 they released their first major-label debut, Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. This album has been their most successful, reaching #7 on the Billboard charts and selling almost a million copies. The album contained the single “Welcome Home,” which may be familiar to some of you…

Maybe you’ve played this song on Rock Band?

The bands 4th studio album, Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow, was released in October 2007 and hit #6 on the Billboard charts. The album contained the singles “The Running Free” and “Feathers.” After the release, they toured heavily and appeared at several music festivals. In 2008, they played a 4-night concert series (Neverender) where they played a different album each night. The series was captured and released as a CD/DVD box set called Neverender: Children of The Fence Edition, which was released in March 2009.

The band recently finished their 5th studio album, Year of the Black Rainbow, which is due out April 13. The album is a prequel to the series of albums and their associated stories. The album will also come with a novel co-written by Sanchez and Peter David, the author of The Hulk. The first two tracks have been released from the album, called “The Broken” and “Here We Are Juggernaut.”

Make sure to catch these guys in action on night 2 of Coachella.