Remember in my review of Loathe’s I Let It in and It Took Everything where I said the only metalcore record I expected to blow me away this year would be Code Orange’s? I have been waiting in excitement for this record since 2017’s Forever, a record that showed the group finding their footing in psychotic, assaulting, and vicious metalcore. Then the singles came in one by one leading up to Underneath, and I knew it was going to be something special. “Sulfur Surrounding” and “Underneath” showed the group moving towards their melodic and cleaner side more like on “Bleeding in the Blur” from Forever. Then “Swallowing the Rabbit Whole” axe kicked fans back to their harsher sound. What was to be expected? More clean or aggressive tracks?

We actually got a split between styles that’s close to even. Before we go any further though, I need to say one thing: Fuck you Code Orange! My neck is in so much fucking pain from Underneath’s insane playing and relentless brutality. In all seriousness, this is the first record in probably a decade that has made me want to thrash my neck in a chaotic fury to release all the anger built up. There are so many insane moments even from the beginning where the intro “(deeperthanbefore)” sets a tone of despair and an impending apocalypse with dank, industrial guitar drones that shake you to the core.

Following it is the single “Swallowing the Rabbit Whole” which shows the mathcore side of Code Orange. The sheer assault of out-of-nowhere, ear-piercing guitar scratches and harrowing industrial notes over the brutal grooves shows that Code Orange are still developing their sounds to new heights. Such traits appear across the record on tracks like the skittering “Erasure Scan”, the 2000’s metalcore-esc breakdown heaven “Cold.Metal.Face”, and the shockingly melodic beatdown that is “In Fear”. I also love the change in production. Instead of the bloated distortion that held back a few tracks on Forever, the instrumentation is now incredibly crisp allowing for each instrument to shine all at once instead of one blowing out the rest.

Easily the best improvements are the breakdowns and especially the transitions. A handful of past breakdowns were one-dimensional and even rarely fell into the cesspool of copy and paste metalcore tropes. The variation between breakdowns are now easily distinguishable and lots of extra mind-melting instrumentals are thrown into the mix. That was more of a minor gripe though compared to the transitions that were jarring with how they jumped from idea to idea sometimes without any connecting tissue to be found. Now they are utilizing an extensive palette of glitches which for those who do not know, I fell in love with glitch in metal on Liturgy’s H.A.Q.Q. last year. Where Liturgy used it to regain attention before shifting to a greater idea, Code Orange is liberal with their implementations that not only provide pleasing transitions, but also an extra layer of chaos and an aesthetic of imperfection. Juxtaposing the glitch elements with the industrial metalcore/hardcore instrumentals works so cohesively. Audio skipping on “Erasure Scan”; software bugs on “In Fear”; bit-rate reduction on “Cold.Metal.Place”; and even outright cut-outs of all audio on “Swallowing the Rabbit Whole” are just a few examples of the variety delivered on Underneath.

Variety really assists this album’s greatness. Metalcore acts often find a single sound and huddle around it for an entire records removing any identifying traits that could be used to distinguish tracks from each other. Although Code Orange’s relentless aggression throughout whole records with exceptions of one or two tracks was compelling, I undoubtedly prefer the near-even split of tracks on Underneath. Outside of the harsh and often hard to digest tracks there are plenty of tracks that are closer to hardcore and even hardrock which push the diversity of the record further. Just like “Bleeding in the Blur” off of Forever, tracks like “Who I Am”, “Autumn and Carbine”, and “A Silver” showcase Code Orange’s skillful musical palettes and shutdowns anyone who thinks they are one-trick ponies.

These tracks really show off the lyrical depth of Underneath outside of the hateful growls where many may not understand them. Lines like “And failure falls just like autumn trees; My concrete comfort mezzanine” and “You’re beautiful on the inside, I’m filled with prismatic shame; My house of worship the blue light; So much simpler through the screen” are quite poetic and seperate Code Orange from the edgy label many others within their musical vein fall victim to. There is a real sense of authenticity in the anger, rage, sorrow, confusion, and other emotions expressed that revolve around the loose concept of facing the worst sides of yourself. Helping further are the clean deliveries on these songs that are raw, restrained, and even beautifully hypnotic on “Sulfur Surrounding”. The timbre is gritty, but not so much that it feels forceful. They’re also quite catchy which is a rare trait for the genre.

There’s way too much to discuss with an album like Underneath. Makes me consider moving to a video format sooner than later so reviews like this do not end up a novel. Every track feels worthy of their own in-depth discussion. Feels kind of weird giving this much praise to a group like Code Orange, the once literal kids of the metalcore genre. In a way, it feels like an underdog tale though. Their debut Love is Love/Return to Dust was decent, but lacked anything defining to the genre and caused many music listeners to write Code Orange Kids off as a gimmick. They then changed their name to what we know them as today, and gave two records both evolving in creativity and skillful playing. Underneath represents Code Orange finding their identity and excelling at it to the fullest extent. I’ve listened to the record over thirty times already trying to find anything wrong, and I could only find one track, “You and You Alone”, that doesn’t reach the extreme excellence of the rest. The track is still very good though! That is a testament to how fantastic Code Orange’s Underneath is, how it will be a game changer for their genres, and its instant placement as a frontrunner for record of the year.

Favorite Tracks: “(deeperthanbefore)”; “Swallowing the Rabbit Whole”; “In Fear”; “Who I Am”; “Cold.Metal.Place”; “Sulfur Surrounding”; “The Easy Way”; “Erasure Scan”; “Last Ones Left”; “Autumn and Carbine”; “Back Inside the Glass”; “A Silver”; “Underneath”

Rating: 9/10

Released: 03/13/2020

Label: Roadrunner Records

Genres: Metalcore, Hardcore Punk, Industrial, Glitch, Hard Rock

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RATING SCALE

Perfect Excellent Great Very Good Good Meh Disappointing Bad Horrible Pitiful Bottom of the Barrel