Code isn’t the most unique of names, so I discovered the hard way. Having heard a couple of tracks, this band had me intrigued enough to track down an album on E-bay, though I got a nasty surprise when it turned up and discovered what I had in fact purchased was a CD by an AOR band of the same name. I’m sure at this point you’ll have gathered that this much lauded debut slipped me by when it was originally released in 2005. I’m unsure the exact reasons for this being re-issued, though given that there are no bonus tracks or the likes I can only guess that it is aimed solely at those like me who failed to discover the band sooner, and the few who did get into the album four years ago hardly need to consider trading in their existing copies.
Well, I guess the first thing to point out is this is no ordinary black metal release, and upon first listen it is clear this is something remarkable. This is an album with much to offer and given the limited time I’ve had to get to know this album I can foresee quite clearly that this will still be in rotation by the time 2009 outs. The album begins with the cool swagger of ‘The Cotton Optic’ which utilises on both a sharp guitar sound and a steel-strength melody. There is a Kampfar-esque vibe to the riff here that just marches in before usurping the rhythm and turning it all on its head. In places, the music sounds chaotic and wild yet always remains focussed with a consistent yet varied thread that pulls through from start to end maintaining a sky-high standard of musicianship. I love the way this manages to shift seamlessly from furious black metal to the more melodic, avant garde likes of ‘A Cloud Formed Teardrop Asylum.’ This track in particular has a Gothic splendour to it in the harsh yet trance-inducing guitars and the clean, emotive vocals. Above all, this has a truly beguiling chorus that has me floating along with the dreamy melody and drawn in to the heroic yet despondent lyrics.
There is something suitably pine-scented about ‘Brass Dogs’ in that there is a true feeling of being at one with nature surrounded by trees and far away from the City that is ironically discussed in the mesmerising chorus. The bass here emits a kind of warmth that sounds stunning against the gelid guitars that contrast in a collision of the elements. There is a rather creepy vibe to this I notice only really when the stereo is up full whack and a sinister nursery rhyme melody kind of lulls you in before the music leaps out at you. This has an avant garde feel to it and is anything but conventional.
One thing that really strikes me on this album is the bass lines which are just fantastic, and while I rarely pay a great deal of attention to the bass it is hard not to notice on here. On tracks like ‘The Cotton Optic’ the bass, provided by none other than Viper of DHG, seems to emerge from the bottom of the mix and with its warm and hypnotic melodies almost engulfs the rest of the music in its entirety. ‘Aeon In Cinders’ returns to the harsher side of the band and pulls you in with it’s truly foreboding riff that is steeped in atmosphere, which is succeeded by ‘Tyburn;’ a chilling and majestic number that shows this album almost follows a pattern which never gets boring. This is overall a stunning (I dread to think how many times I’ve used this word, but it really is true!), nay, magnificent album, and one that any fan of avant garde black metal really must own. Right, now I’m off to flog my AOR Code album and trade for the real Code’s follow up to this, Resplendent Grotesque. Any takers?
http://www.myspace.com/codeblackmetal
