FROM THE ARCHIVE: Code Orange - Forever (REVIEW)



Pittsburgh hardcore troop Code Orange have been forerunners now in crafting a modern approach to the genre. Their 2014 release ‘I Am King’ holds its place as one of my favourite and most played records, so with the bands signing to the massive, traditionally ‘straight up metal’ label Roadrunner Records, I was both eager and sceptical to see how their next release would sound. 

The record opens with the title track – Forever – a start as we mean to go on type of song that introduces the sheer brutality of what is to come. The listener is guided through a labyrinth of riffs before reaching the climactic breakdown signalled by a bloodcurdling declaration that “Code Orange is forever”. The second track of the record, Kill The Creator, introduces a new scope the band have adopted on the record – gritty abrasiveness blended with electronic breaks and unique, often otherworldly song structuring. In true Code Orange style, the track slows to a punishing barrage of aggression that grips the listener by the ear drums if the first track already didn’t do the trick. The third track, Real, is arguably the heaviest track the band has released to date, and features a breakdown that is coincidentally the perfect soundtrack for watching neo-nazis get (rightfully) battered to (https://twitter.com/_countmeout/status/823269630777163780).

Throughout the record, Code Orange have taken the ‘breakdown’, a staple of metalcore which has become somewhat stale in recent times - primarily due to its incessant overuse similar to the dubstep ‘drop’ – and injected it with a refreshing aggression that, while doesn’t entirely ‘reinvent the wheel’, gives the simple formula actual fitting purpose and raw grittiness amongst fast paced, relentless verses. 

On Forever, Code Orange also opt for a more straight up grungey/rock feel with tracks such as Ugly and in particular the main single Bleeding In The Blur, which has an aura about it which is still dark enough to fit within the punishing track listing due to ominous lyrics sang by guitarist Reba Meyers (who really shines on this track). 

Code Orange’s adoption of electronic sampling as well as brutal guitars and punishing drums, laced with dark lyrics on tracks such as The Mud really pull the listener down into the iniquitous and enigmatic world the band have created. My one minor issue with the album is the placement of the track dream2 at the end of the album. The track to me feels more of an interlude, whereas ‘Hurt Goes On’ for me is the perfect closer. Baleful electronic samples accompany disturbing lyricism (When the roaches scatter / when it’s just you and me) which build to a climactic explosion of guitars, drums and animalistic chants.

Forever is definitely one of my favourite releases both by the band and of 2017 so far, and paints a dark and raw picture of excellence in a genre that so often churns out an almost commercial-level of drivel. Code Orange stretch the boundaries not only for metalcore and hardcore, but also for metal music in general.

 


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