CODE ORANGE — I Am King (review)

CODE ORANGE — I Am King album cover Album · 2014 · Metalcore Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"I Am King" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US post-hardcore act Code Orange. The album was released through Deathwish Inc in September 2014. The band was formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2008 when the members were still young teenagers, and they´ve released some demos and EPs before releasing their debut full-length studio album "Love Is Love // Return To Dust" in 2012. They were originally formed under the Code Orange Kids monicker but shortened their name to Code Orange in June 2014. It´s their second album through Deathwish Inc and also the second album to be produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge).

...and let´s begin with the sound production, which is absolutely brilliant. Powerful, raw, and organic yet still detailed and clear. A perfect sound for the material featured on the album. Stylistically the music on "I Am King" is an experimental type of post-hardcore with elements not only from hardcore, but also featuring ultra heavy metalcore breakdowns in odd time signatures, and atmospheric shoegaze type parts. Code Orange definitely has a pretty diverse musical style, although the overall structure and sound of the album is consistent.

Besides the songwriting which is very adventurous and relatively original, and the incredibly well sounding production, the delivery of the music is also of high class throughout. The snarling shouting hardcore vocals are delivered with great passion and conviction, and when the band occasionally sing using clean male and female vocals, the monotone sedated performance also works well within the soundscape.

It´s obvious that aestethics are important to Code Orange, and nothing is left to chance. It´s not that "I Am King" is an arty farty release by any means though, and while it certainly is rather sophisticated it´s also very raw and aggressive. A delicate musical balance which is not easy to strike and still sound natural, but Code Orange make it sound like the most natural thing in the world. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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