Life is hard as the saying goes. Born with a silver spoon some never need to work at all for their merits and will simply be set for life, others might be less fortunate. Delusional to the arduous reality of the real world the silver spoons have nothing to go through but the hard boiled, harsh understanding of rusted spoons goes a long way. Hard to describe as a musical quality the idea of ugly music is somewhat out of the box. Falling out of the ugly tree and hitting every branch on the way down, Code Orange present to us some of the most downtrodden riffs to hit 2017. Shown their brand new concoction of vehemence and grit, welcome to the world of Forever.
[details]
[length]36:00[/length]
[record_label]Roadrunner Records[/record_label]
[release_date]January 13th 2017[/release_date]
[/details]
[tracklist]
- Forever
- Kill The Creator
- Real
- Bleeding In The Blur
- The Mud
- The New Reality
- Spy
- Ugly
- No One Is Untouchable
- Hurt Goes On
- dream2
- [/tracklist]
Rooting themselves in the caustic vein of Norma Jean mid two thousands Hardcore “Kill The Creator” slowly builds over a slow incline of dissonance before another section reminiscent of the madness that was the likes of The Locust or Genghis Tron. Separating the band from others is their use of the disjointed samples giving songs a definitive end and often bringing the listen to sudden halt, keeping you on your toes no matter how many times the record might have been spun.
“Real” for example mixes the more brutal elements with its critical mass introduction seen in Hardcore. Something hard to be able craft in the modern day where bands are over saturated. At the crux of Code Orange lies a simple creation of balls to the walls Hardcore. The likes of “Spy” bring the classic Tom tapping formula of Hardcore into the fray yet it’s vocalist Reba Myers’ inspired delivery that brings the real sense of bitterness to the band. Not to mention a sense of eerie quiet in the appropriately titled “Ugly” acting as a shoebox, gritty vision of Nirvana’s grunge aesthetic. It’s worth mentioning that Converge might have laid the foundations for this new unrelenting sound but rather than imitating like so many others Code Orange are able to stand on their own two feet.
In the same breath the band also experiment with samples to create a delightfully demented atmosphere, particularly on “Hurt Goes On” leaving a bitter taste in the mouth that somehow you’ll be going back for unexplainably. Before the cult chant of “dream2” creates a sense of distilled clarity. Similar to the sense felt in Horror right before a character is lopped off. Nevertheless at the crux of it, Code Orange deliver the goods with the likes of “Forever” well and truly flattening the listener. Despite the simplistic nature behind the band, there is an incredible amount of variety within each track. Making individual songs have personality rather than morphing into one breakdown after another. Nevertheless had that been what they wanted to do “The New Reality” does more than champion the idea of the breakdown. Rather than breathe new life into the genre, Forever sees Code Orange unfeelingly resuscitate the genre rather than mollycoddling, showing the gritty, grimey underbelly of the real world and what life really can be like.
[verdict]Yes[/verdict]
[why]Code Orange have brought into the modern day a sound that hasn’t been seen before. Not compromising with melody Forever is very much an unflinching entity. Doused in aggression, wet with anger and set alight with true passion, you’ve got the recipe for one hell of a record.[/why]
If you like what you read / heard then you can pick up Code Orange’s Forever here!
