Year of the Black Rainbow is the fifth studio album by American progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria, released on April 13, 2010 through Columbia.

[4] The album is produced by Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction) and Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool).

[citation needed] The album also marked drummer Chris Pennie's studio debut with the band, who had been playing alongside Sanchez, lead guitarist Travis Stever and bassist Michael Todd since 2007.

The origins of who they are.Year of the Black Rainbow's release was preceded by a series of eight intimate club gigs in the northeastern United States, all of which sold out.

[14] The album was released by Columbia Records in both a standard format and a deluxe edition, which included a 352-page Year of the Black Rainbow novel, penned by the lead singer Claudio Sanchez and New York Times bestselling author Peter David.

Club, who praised the album highly, remarked, "Reconciling its post-hardcore roots with the progressive-rock flourishes that have been eclipsing the band's sound over the past couple albums, tracks like "Here We Are Juggernaut" and "World Of Lines" far outshine the recent output of Coheed’s closest peer, The Mars Volta..."[19] AllMusic, who gave the record a 4 out of 5, concluded that "any fan of heavy progressive rock music may find this music to be of compelling interest, whether one buys into the conceptual nature of the Amory Wars or not.

[29] Time Out New York gave it a score of four stars out of five and said that "the band wisely refines a winning formula, sounding properly bombastic on 'The Broken,' and effortlessly hooky on 'Here We Are Juggernaut.

"[33] However, some reviews are average, mixed or negative: Drowned in Sound gave the album a score of six out of ten and said, "The adventurous nature of Coheed and Cambria was what made them so thrilling.

"[35] Billboard gave it a mixed review, stating that the album "lacks the grandiose thematic concepts of previous outings as well as an immediate single, like past songs 'A Favor House Atlantic' or 'The Suffering.

"[37] Slant Magazine lamented, "There's no trace of Coheed's oddball eclecticism here, or of their dynamic pop sensibilities; instead the emotionally and tonally monochrome Black Rainbow gives the impression of a typically humorless metal act."

Slant also criticized the album for featuring an "oppressive production job by Atticus Ross and Joe Barressi" that creates "gloomy atmospherics that shroud each and every track".

[24] Rolling Stone met the album with lukewarm reception, commenting on "the same old mix of impressive musicianship and arena-size agita," and that "Rainbow feels both silly and retrograde.