“Are you happy now? Will you ever be?”
Code Orange have had quite the career trajectory, huh? Emerging as underground hardcore darlings in the early-mid 2010s, the (now former-) Code Orange Kids have since risen to heights that would have been hard to foresee, even looking from as close as the band’s 2017 breakout record Forever. In the years since, they’ve risen from hardcore underdogs to being essentially an in-house band for the WWE, as well as performing worldwide to thousands with a litany of varied artists by their side over the past few years.
It’s an understatement to say that Code Orange made something of a significant impact on the worlds of metal and hardcore, having always been something of a forward-thinking band in their presentation and ethos. It does beg the question though, that with all of their new-found success that has propelled them far beyond the point of being a left-field hardcore band, and closer to that of a mainstream metal group, how does that all translate and cross over into their sound? Are Code Orange still as able to tap into and combine interesting sounds from across the music spectrum into their hardcore foundation? Or will they simply submit to the pressure and throes of their newfound, much larger audience, and attempt to craft something more palatable? After all, it’s no secret that through their rising into the wider metal world, their audience is far different now than it was just three or four years ago when the rollout of their last LP, Underneath was underway.
The answer is certainly not as black or white as that, but part of me wishes it was. See, Code Orange’s latest effort in The Above has left me feeling somewhat confused – in multiple facets. As I delve further into The Above’s soundscape, I find myself questioning more and more often “is this really the best they can do?”. This is no light question for me to be asking myself, given how big a fan of the aforementioned Forever, and much of Underneath I was. I knew this band favoured experimentation and creating odd and uneasy soundscapes, drawing from vastly different palettes, and while they’ve achieved that superbly in the past, something about The Above feels off.
My chief problem across The Above is that the foundational elements that tied Code Orange’s sound together so neatly – being that of a hardcore and metalcore basis that branched out into the worlds of industrial and electronic – have shifted dramatically. The foundation now sits somewhere between the industrial elements they used to frequently pull from, as well as a stark shift toward a nu-metal worship sound that, truth be told, I don’t think they pull off all that well. “Take Shape”, confusingly featuring The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan is the earliest example of Code Orange failing to stick the landing on this sound, with a weak Hybrid Theory-esque chorus surrounded by an unenthusiastic industrial rock track. Corgan’s feature too, proves to be just as head scratching, as the song seems to shift its soundscape entirely to make way for a short and wholly uninteresting performance.
It doesn’t help, too, that Code Orange’s songwriting is more scatterbrained than ever before here. The harshly contrasting and juxtapositional sounds of Underneath made much of that album tick, whereas here I feel that a majority of those moments feel heavy handed, forced and, at the worst of times, utterly pretentious. This is apparent from the very opening moments of the record, as we’re introduced to “Never Far Apart”, a violent push-pull between oddly crafted, industrialised trip-hop; and flowery, theatrical piano balladry. It’s stark jumps like these that rid many of the tracks across The Above of any true sense of flow, and instead feel like half-songs haphazardly stapled together and packaged as some notion of the avant-garde, when it just comes across as messy in practice.
It’s not all bad, however, and it seems Code Orange still understand how to tap into their utmost strengths when required. Metalcore ragers “The Game” and “Grooming My Replacement” provide a brief mid-album glimpse into the band’s roots, and execute the Code Orange aesthetics of yesteryear arguably better than ever before. While I would certainly not decry Code Orange’s want and need to expand beyond these sounds, it still stands that when the foundational elements of their early work are still firmly in place, they clearly still have the ability to craft genuinely interesting, energetic, and acutely aggressive tracks. However, these two standouts are not enough to free the record of its overwhelming lack of consistent quality or identity, and instead only serve to bolster just how poorly executed much of The Above is.
Brief glimpses of heaviness akin to these tracks are strewn across The Above, too, but oftentimes feel included out of obligation rather than serving a purpose to their respective songs. Tracks like “The Mask of Sanity Slips” and “A Drone Opting Out of the Hive” harbour some genuinely electrifying and interesting riffs, but oftentimes those glimpses of greatness are so brief and so contrasting to the remainder of the songs that they’re sandwiched between that it feels like they either should have committed to a heavier sound, or not have bothered in the first place.
As we approach the tail end of the record, we’re treated with further conflicting aesthetics and confusing stylistic choices. The pep and youthful energy contained within “Snapshot” and “Circle Through” certainly don’t translate to a terrible listening experience, but there’s something that feels so hamfisted and lopsided about what these tracks are trying to achieve. Jumping between aesthetics of ‘80s/’90s hardcore and punk like Bad Religion and The Offspring (though perhaps slower on the tempo) on the latter of the two, the track feels like Code Orange’s answer to a song off of a Pro Skater soundtrack that may have been better off left in that era.
Once one of the genre’s most beloved and forward-thinking groups, what has truly proven to be Code Orange’s most disappointing weakness on The Above is their insistence on clinging to the past. Not of their own past, however, but rather that of its hamfisted adaptations of antiquated nu-metal and industrial aesthetics, that all lead to an album that feels dated from the moment of its release. If you’re looking for the biting, experimental hardcore of Code Orange’s past, you’re better off looking elsewhere. Conversely, too, if you’re looking to indulge in some nu-metal nostalgia, there are far better records for you to spend your time with, as The Above seems more intent on embodying the elements of those genres that should have been left in their respective eras, rather than revitalising or recontextualising them for future generations.
3.5/10
The Above is due for release on Friday, September 29th via Blue Grape Music, and you can find pre-orders for the record here.