Album Review: Code Orange – Forever (Roadrunner Records)

Code Oranges new album, Forever is pure hardcore fury from the moment it starts & it rarely lets up. It’s high-tempo aggression that devastates the mind but encourages the body to get the hell up & join the pit.

If you’re not all in with Code Orange after the opening triple shot to the head of Forever, Kill the Creator & Real you’re not likely to be won over but for the rest of us things just get heavier, more frantic & even more exciting.

Bleeding the Blur does feel somewhat out of place with its cleaner vocals & more rock-based sound but coming after the first three songs it works surprisingly well even if it’s not the one you’ll remember after you’ve finished listening to the full album.

The Mud brings things back round to a more aggressive sound. It’s blackened skies sound is great then out of nowhere it abruptly stops. You’ll think the song has ended but it actually builds back into a slamming guitar led finish. It’s very odd & comes across a bit messy, not an easy song to digest at all.

Not that a song like that is anything but an occasional flurry for Code Orange. The two minute intensity of The Never (that beat might be the heaviest thing we hear this year), the take no prisoners approach of Spy & the pop rock/ Nine Inch Nails industrial sound of Ugly & Hurt Goes On, this really is an album that challenges the senses while remaining an extremely heavy metal album at its core.

It has way more ups then it does downs & even if you’re not a fan of the longer, more disjointed stuff you’ll definitely find something to enjoy in the short & sharp attacks (No One is Untouchable is a fantastic example of this).

Ending with a haunting melody & distant clean vocals, it’s something of a disappointment that Code Orange aren’t going all out for the finish. Its ‘build’ moments go nowhere special even if it is kind of soothing.

Keep your eye on Code Orange, they mean business.

Overall Track Listing:

1. Forever
2. Kill the Creator
3. Real
4. Bleeding in the Blur
5. The Mud
6. The New Reality
7. Spy
8. Ugly
9. No One is Untouchable
10. Hurt Goes On
11. Dream2

Forever is out now & available to buy or stream via Spotify & Apple Music.