I'm one of those people that read Year of the Black Rainbow before I read the Armory Wars. I'm glad I did, because this would be hard to follow otherwise. You can tell this is Claudio's first work- I believe that YotBR let you get more attached to the characters so you felt more of a loss in a certain chapter. While Armory Wars isn't bad - the shifts in artistry and VERY fast moving plot make it a popcorn read. I love the music and this is a fantastic hint at the stories behind all of Coheed & Cambria's music. Props to Claudio for producing his story, because it is a fantastic sci-fi adventure. I think if he was given the time to re-produce it, even as an animated mini-series, he could do wonders with it.
In short, it's a great base, read Year of the Black Rainbow first. And it's totally worth owning the HC version, it fits nicely next to my YotBR box set.