IN REVIEW: Code Orange - "Forever"

In the world of heavy music, bands aren't usually encouraged to stretch the parameters of their core sound; whichever subgenre you come in on is the one you're expected to stay on. So for Code Orange, with their background in punk and hardcore, Forever is a risky project; at its foundation, it's very much a hardcore record, but there are flourishes of outside influence to be heard as well. Industrial, mathcore, nu-metal, and even dashes of shoegaze and melodic alt-rock are added as spice.

Still, the common thread is the bloody sinew of bone-crushing guitars and pummeling drums. It's what keeps Forever consistent, and helps any deviations from the script at least seem not so deviant in the context of all the chaos. This is also a record that keeps a tentative distance from clichés of the genre and, though there are certainly a fair share of prototypical breakdowns, the songs as a whole are approached with as much a sense of discovery as one of reverence.

At the end of the day, though, all you're likely to care about is whether or not Code Orange's concoction can kick your ass. Rest assured, it's capable of devastation; that it may expand your horizons along the way is an added bonus.

January 13, 2017 • Roadrunner
Highlights Forever • Kill the Creator • Bleeding in the Blur