Well, it has been seven years since their second album ‘Resplendent Grotesque’, but finally Code are back with their third, which also features a new line-up of Aort, Wacian, Syhr, LORDt and Andras. The combination of the time spent away and the new personnel has resulted in something that is quite different to much of what is going on in the black metal world, and in many ways could be said to be progressive as they bring together styles and ideas from all areas of music. But, they haven’t gone Opeth on us, but rather have created something that is definitely BM, that also contains melodic passages, many different styles of singing, incredibly tight staccato riffs, and a refusal to sound like anyone else. This is one of those albums that the more it is played the more there is to discover. The style of the guitar solos are sometimes at total odds with what is happening vocally as two different types of metal crash into each other but it works, it really works.
The band have described it as their “most dynamic and challenging material to date” but in fact it is is probably their most accessible and easy to listen to, without once being easy listening. Powerful, intense, with one hell of a lot going on, this is music that refuses to accept being put into a pigeonhole as this isn’t a prey bird. Think of it instead as a raven, dark brooding, evil and intense, and always ready to peck out your eye.
