Review: Underneath - Code Orange
By Luke Robinson
As every hardcore dude in their mid-20s says, I’ve been with Code Orange since they were “kids.” In 2012, I saw them play in a Chicago garage, and was blown away with the veracity and musicianship of their music. It was sludgy powerviolence done with this youthful, feminine energy. They were wimps that could kick your ass wearing short shorts. But with each coming album, they began to shed this image. I Am King saw them drop the “Kids” moniker in order to reinvent themselves as macho metalcore, reviving the screeching panic chords and chugging breakdowns made famous by bands like Disembodied in the early 2000s. Despite it being a bit generic, it showed promise with some choice cut gems in the mix.
Still, Code Orange demonstrated desire towards making their sound more aggressive and diverse. This brought them to Forever, their magnum opus - and one of my favorite hardcore records of all time. The album introduced industrial and electronic elements to the band’s bludgeoning cacophony, while their breakdowns became more brutal and animalistic. Following the albums release, the band skyrocketed to prestige within the metal and hardcore communities. They had earned their place, but what would they do to try and keep it?
Underneath, the band’s latest record, is at the very least, ambitious. The increase in technicality and rhythmic intricacy is most notable, as this new evolution has the band shedding hardcore influences in favor of technical variants of metal. “Swallowing The Rabbit Hole” is a prime example, a showcase of the most technical metal riff the band has thus far concocted. The song is accented with electronic flourishes that dizzily dance around the rhythms, and ends with a Protest The Hero style breakdown that features manically fast shredded leads. Yet while the song is an album standout, it embodies the formula found on every other song: fast technical rhythms, bubbling electronics, spliced audio, breakdown after breakdown.
When the band isn’t fucking with their newfound formula, they hit you with an alt 90s throwback. “Who I Am” boasts “Smooth'' by Santana featuring Rob Thomas-ass guitars dancing around a dated electronic beat; if you think that’s bad, the chorus only makes it worse. Worst of all is “Sulfur Surrounding,” a cringe-inducing and unacceptable song chock full of bending butt0rock guitar lines and synths straight out of the Fire Emblem stage from Super Smash Bros. Melee. What’s most unfortunate with the album is how sterile the production is, and how lacking in dynamics the mixes are. It causes the guitar tones throughout to sound right at home with Imagine Dragons.
Underneath ultimately plays as a stark crossover into industrial metalcore and nu-metal worship. There are a few moments of incredible aggression and innovation towards heavy music as a whole, but this is not without numerous missteps, including poor production, dated synths, unnecessary additions of electronics, and songs that grow tedious quickly. While initially promising, Code Orange have sadly flattened their own hype with Underneath. Hopefully they can reclaim themselves without getting lost in the shuffle next time around.
