Not many of the songs on Year of the Black Rainbow deal solely with the concept. Many of them were written more with the intent of letting the listener relate to these songs, while simultaneously being more in relation to what's been going on with the band members. Some songs such as "The Broken" and "Here We Are Juggernaut" have a slight conceptual overtone, but it's still not as noticeable.

"In the Flame of Error" is where the concept really shines through on this album. The title comes directly from a quote in the novel. In this part of the story, Ryan kidnapped Pearl Hohenberger to use her as leverage against her husband Leonard. By doing so, he persuades him to hand over his creations Coheed and Cambria (not knowing about the existence of Inferno at this point), as well as convince him to construct the deadly Monstar virus. The song follows Leonard's guilt over his willingness to develop the virus -- and thus spell doom over all of Heaven's Fence -- all in the name of saving his wife.

The other part of the song, however, deals with Leonard coming up with a plan to turn the tables on Ryan. While he indeed constructs the virus, he implants it within Coheed as well as installs a trigger mechanism within Cambria, effectively making it nearly impossible for Ryan to extract the virus. Still, Leonard struggles over this and comes to believe that he might truly be the "worst murderer the worlds will see."


The first time I heard this song, I thought for a split moment I had been listening to an Alice in Chains record. "In the Flame of Error" opens with a heavy, sludgy riff that's so reminiscent of a grungy sound. At the same time, it reminds me plainly of such songs as "Everything Evil" and other similar progressive Coheed songs. The verses consist of strong, loud drum beats coupled with similarly heavy rhythm leads. In this way, the song has a bit of metal vibe to it as well. This change of styles it what really makes this song as good as it is.

I also personally love the vocals on this track. This is why the song is more story than it is anything else, as helped by Claudio's vocals. You can almost feel the anger behind the vocals as if he's singing from the perspective of Leonard Hohenberger. When the band told fans that this album was going to be more melodic than previous records, and I can see now what they mean.