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.

UMUR "Love Is Love // Return To Dust" is the debut full-length studio album by US post hardcore act Code Orange or Code Orange Kids as they were called at this point. They changed their name to Code Orange in June 2014. The album was released through Deathwish Inc in November 2012. The band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2008 when the members were still young teenagers, and they´ve released some demos and EPs before releasing "Love Is Love // Return To Dust".

The music on the album is an experimental/progressive type of post hardcore. Converge almost immediately comes to mind, but Code Orange are not a clone band. In addition to the fast paced hardcore sections, the music also features crushingly heavy breakdowns, atmospheric post-metal sections, and even the odd nod towards shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive) on "Colors (Into Nothing)". The vocals are mostly aggressive higher pitched shouting, but there are both deeper more brutal vocals, and occasional clean female/male vocals, featured on the album. The instrumental part of the music is relatively experimental featuring many tempo changes, surprising breaks, and other interesting details.

The 10 track, 27:07 minutes long album features a good flow, with great dynamic changes in atmosphere, pace, and musical style, which is one of it´s greatest strengths. But the excellent musicianship (these guys/girls are very well playing/singing), and the organic and incredibly well sounding Kurt Ballou (Converge) production are great assets too. It´s actually a bit hard not to be blown away by a high quality debut album like this one, and it´s safe to say that Code Orange are off to a great start. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Forever" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US hardcore act Code Orange. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in january 2017. Since the release of "I Am King (2014)", Code Orange have switched from Deathwish Inc to Roadrunner Records, which will pretty surely provide the band with better opportunities to be heard by a wider audience. The lineup who recorded the predecessor are intact, so it´s still Eric Balderose on guitar and vocals, Joe Goldman on bass, Reba Meyers on guitar and vocals, and Jami Morgan on drums and vocals.

While some artists "soften" their sound or try to write more accessible music, when they get a chance to reach a wider audience, that´s certainly not the case with Code Orange. Quite the opposite in fact, as the material on the 11 track, 34:54 minutes long album is generally very harsh, unconventional in structure, über aggressive, and inaccessible in nature. It´s a continuation of the sound Code Orange initiated on "Love Is Love // Return To Dust (2012)" and further developed on "I Am King (2014)", so fans of those releases won´t be surprised to find raw shouting and aggressive hardcore vocals, ultra heavy breakdowns, loads of feedback, and adventurous songwriting ideas. They won´t be surprised either when the band travel down slightly more melodic roads and add female vocals to a track like "Bleeding in the Blur" and clean male vocals to a track like "Ugly". Although those moments are slightly more melodic than the otherwise very raw and aggressive album, they don´t add any light to the album, which is overall bleak, bleak, bleak...

...it´s the kind of album that´ll leave you with the feeling that everything is lost, that nothing you do will ever matter, or in other words that the world has gone down the drain. Deep bleak depression and hatred. It´s just overall a really mean album. Not all artists are able to create an atmosphere like that and make it sound believable, but Code Orange skillfully execute their plan. They are incredibly skilled musicians, and even more accomplished composers, and when you add to that a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, "Forever" comes off as a high quality release. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.