Code Orange - Underneath
Key Facts
Country: 🇺🇸
Genre: Hardcore
Release Date: 13th March 2020
Record Label(s): Roadrunner Records
Band Members
Eric "Shade" Balderose - vocals, programming, mixing
Reba Meyers – vocals, guitars, engineering
Jami Morgan – vocals, drums, percussion, producer
Joe Goldman – bass
Dominic Landolina – guitars
Production Personel
Nicole Dollanganger – additional vocals on "(deeperthanbefore)", "Swallowing The Rabbit Hole", "Cold.Metal.Place"
Chris Vrenna – additional programming
Nick Raskulinecz – producer
Will Yip – co-producer, mixing, engineering
Andrew Dawson – mixing on "Underneath"
Vince Ratti – co-mixing
Nathan Yarborough – engineering
Vlado Meller – mastering
Setta Studio – visual producer, visual effects, additional enhancement
Autumn Morgan – art concept
Elizabeth Farrington – assist
Mandy Simpson – assist
Jason Baker – props & makeup
Virgilio Tzaj – layout
Tim Saccenti – photographer
Joe Gerardi – retouching
Code Orange - Swallowing The Rabbit Hole
Review
Rating (out of 5🤘): 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Favourite Track(s): Who I Am, Swallowing The Rabbit Hole, You And You Alone, Suffer Surrounding, Back Inside The Glass, Erasure Scan
Now, I definitely jumped on the Code Orange bandwagon back in 2017 when the band released the monster that is Forever. Their heavy, dark and chaotic brand of hardcore deeply appealed to me and I still hold Forever in high regard as a result. With a slew of non-album singles featuring the likes of Slipknot's Corey Taylor and creating the theme for WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt, the band have gone from strength to strength over the last three years. This lead to Underneath becoming one of the most anticipated albums of 2020, and you best believe the hype! This absolutely mind bending album takes you to places you've never been, experimenting with a plethora of other musical elements incorporated into their already crushing and chaotically experimental blend of hardcore. The self proclaimed "Thinners Of The Herd" have done it again, this album is aggressive, brutal and mostly strange but it's definitely an entertaining listen and is certainly not for the faint of heart!
Musically, the album is frantic and chaotic whilst pushing the boundaries of hardcore with its experimental, industrial synths and sound design. The eclectic mix of riffs and synthesisers gets bounded round your head and feels like you're in one of Jigsaw's Saw traps, but one that won't kill you, well I hope not anyway. There is definitely an evolution that has taken place between now and 2017's Forever, but it is still very noticeably Code Orange, they've evolved just enough to keep it fresh and exciting. With this in mind, they are still one of the most unique bands that I've heard, not many hardcore acts can pull off this level of accuracy of the specific sound that they have created on Underneath, delivering on every promise. One thing I love with this album is that every track bleeds into one, creating this constant, frantic, chaotic movement between the tracks. With this in mind, the whole album feels interlinked with a conceptual theme in my opinion, storytelling through chaos. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around how you go about writing an album such as Underneath, with all the sound design and synths involved it is definitely a monumental effort on the compositional front for the band. The songs that stand out the most to me are Swallowing The Rabbit Hole and Erasure Scan as they feel the most progressive in terms of riff structure and rhythm. With sections that speed up and slow down within milliseconds of each other has this awesome effect on the groove of the track, just as you get settled in with one groove these little fills slap you back to an uneasy reality. I know I've constantly described this album as chaotic but that is because its the only way I can describe it with any justice. This album has genuinely left me speechless and trying to search for words but it is unlike anything I've heard before. There is plenty in this album to digest yet it doesn't feel claustrophobic or over the top, its has a purpose and it delivers it effectively and efficiently. Overall this is a mind bend of an album in the best possible way, Code Orange have done it again!
With a production personnel list that big you'd think too many cooks spoil the broth, that is where you are wrong in this case. Given the amount of sound design and processing on this album you'd need that many people. As much as I love the incredible songwriting, I am in awe of the production on this album. The guitars are dialled in perfectly and are crushingly heavy and uncompromising. With that in mind, they're also oddly intricate, given the timing of all the weird effects and processing that they've gone through. The bass just bludgeons you on all sides, locked in with a kick drum that gives your ear drums a beat down, there is so much weight in the low end it's a force to be reckoned with. The snare and cymbals cut through the carnage clearly, the snare having a good level of snap and ring. The multilayering of the vocals will definitely draw your attention on a few tracks, as it's not the standard harmonies but more effects based. The programming and synths is what really brings this album into a league of its own, the amount of samples and effects used are phenomenal, but they add to the dynamics and augment everything else. The overall mix doesn't feel over the top and crammed, its surprisingly spacious considering all the primordial and chaotic energy that ensues with each song. Overall, an incredible production!
Underneath has come out kicking and screaming into the world and is certainly not for the faint hearted! If you fancy breathing some organised chaos into your day, give Code Orange's new album a listen!
Musically, the album is frantic and chaotic whilst pushing the boundaries of hardcore with its experimental, industrial synths and sound design. The eclectic mix of riffs and synthesisers gets bounded round your head and feels like you're in one of Jigsaw's Saw traps, but one that won't kill you, well I hope not anyway. There is definitely an evolution that has taken place between now and 2017's Forever, but it is still very noticeably Code Orange, they've evolved just enough to keep it fresh and exciting. With this in mind, they are still one of the most unique bands that I've heard, not many hardcore acts can pull off this level of accuracy of the specific sound that they have created on Underneath, delivering on every promise. One thing I love with this album is that every track bleeds into one, creating this constant, frantic, chaotic movement between the tracks. With this in mind, the whole album feels interlinked with a conceptual theme in my opinion, storytelling through chaos. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around how you go about writing an album such as Underneath, with all the sound design and synths involved it is definitely a monumental effort on the compositional front for the band. The songs that stand out the most to me are Swallowing The Rabbit Hole and Erasure Scan as they feel the most progressive in terms of riff structure and rhythm. With sections that speed up and slow down within milliseconds of each other has this awesome effect on the groove of the track, just as you get settled in with one groove these little fills slap you back to an uneasy reality. I know I've constantly described this album as chaotic but that is because its the only way I can describe it with any justice. This album has genuinely left me speechless and trying to search for words but it is unlike anything I've heard before. There is plenty in this album to digest yet it doesn't feel claustrophobic or over the top, its has a purpose and it delivers it effectively and efficiently. Overall this is a mind bend of an album in the best possible way, Code Orange have done it again!
With a production personnel list that big you'd think too many cooks spoil the broth, that is where you are wrong in this case. Given the amount of sound design and processing on this album you'd need that many people. As much as I love the incredible songwriting, I am in awe of the production on this album. The guitars are dialled in perfectly and are crushingly heavy and uncompromising. With that in mind, they're also oddly intricate, given the timing of all the weird effects and processing that they've gone through. The bass just bludgeons you on all sides, locked in with a kick drum that gives your ear drums a beat down, there is so much weight in the low end it's a force to be reckoned with. The snare and cymbals cut through the carnage clearly, the snare having a good level of snap and ring. The multilayering of the vocals will definitely draw your attention on a few tracks, as it's not the standard harmonies but more effects based. The programming and synths is what really brings this album into a league of its own, the amount of samples and effects used are phenomenal, but they add to the dynamics and augment everything else. The overall mix doesn't feel over the top and crammed, its surprisingly spacious considering all the primordial and chaotic energy that ensues with each song. Overall, an incredible production!
Underneath has come out kicking and screaming into the world and is certainly not for the faint hearted! If you fancy breathing some organised chaos into your day, give Code Orange's new album a listen!
Code Orange - Underneath
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