Genre : Hardcore, Metalcore, Industrial, Alternative rock
Released : March 13, 2020
Label : Roadrunner Records
FFO : Knocked Loose, Vein, Nine Inch Nails
"Underneath" is Code Orange's lengthiest release yet, being only 10 minutes away from a full hour of run time.
It also sees the band fully embrace their experimentation with electronic and industrial soundscapes having begun to surface ever since their 2017 acclaimed album "Forever", further reinforced by "The Hurt Will Go On" EP the following year.
The menacing instrumental intro immediately sets the tone for the album as well as its main theme of humanity's isolation and dissociation (pretty timely huh) within a mechanical and digital modern world that grows colder by the day.
For this album, the band has undergone somewhat of a line up change.
Indeed, from now on, Jami Morgan will no longer be bellowing from behind his drumkit and is now instead a full on vocalist, enhancing his already powerful stage presence.
The result of this line up change can be heard immediately on "Swallowing the Rabbit Whole" now that Jami is focusing exclusively on vocals, the drumming on this album is even more technical and frantic than it used to be and the vocals on this record are better than ever.
Most notably Reba Meyers' vocal performances on here have clearly stepped up and make the "Reba-dominant" songs far more memorable than they were on "Forever", especially on the songs "Who I Am" and "Sulfur Surrounding".
"Underneath" also sees the band mix even more different heavy genres together than they had ever done before in their discography.
We've got some nostalgic nu-metal vibes going on in "Who I Am", djent riffage and mathcore undertones with the dissonant pinch harmonics on "Cold.Metal.Place.", a cyber metal bridge on "Erasure Scan", some grunge influence on "Sulfur Surrounding ", a catchy industrial tune with "The Easy Way" and anthemic alternative rock on the album's eponymous finishing track "Underneath".
While I feel like "Back Inside the Glass" is what comes closest to what you'd expect a Code Orange track to sound like, on the other hand however, the track "Erasure scan" feels like something out of "Forever" after having gone through a meat grinder and glitching the fuck out; I absolutely love it.
In fact, the whole record keeps glitching in and out and is extremely abrasive as it explores multiple musical genres simultaneously throughout the record while still feeling like a cohesive ensemble.
All in all, the band is at the top of their game on this record and it is both terrifying and exciting to see where they will go from here afterwards.
One thing that is for sure though, is that "Underneath" is a pioneering record and is an important landmark for modern heavy music, as well as an example of what hardcore music can sound like nowadays when its envelope is pushed.