Code Orange. Photo by Tim Saccenti.
Just over ten years since the release of their explosive debut album Love Is Love // Return To Dust via Deathwish, Code Orange have continued to carve their own niche in the metal realm while still endeavoring for broader exposure (2017's Forever and 2021's Underneath were both nominated for Grammy awards, and the group have recorded a theme for WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt).
The group haven't lost their edge in either their music or their capacity for world-building — yesterday, Code Orange uploaded a YouTube video called "Code Orange SLAMS Modern Music Critics" complete with your typical vloggy thumbnail picture. The actual video is a scripted kidnap-and-torture video like LiveLeak from another dimension. It strongly suggested that new music was coming, and today the band have shared the new songs “Grooming My Replacement” and “The Game.”
The new songs could have been recorded in the dingy chamber from that teaser video. The cyberpunk industrial glitch that prevailed around Underneath is dialed back in favor of the pummeling, claustrophobic mood of their sophomore project I Am King. Frontman Jami Morgan says in a press release that the new songs are “the bug infested subconscious of a band on the run from its past and future.” Listen closely to both songs, streaming below, and you'll hear the sound of a hungry swarm of insects, fattened on blood and ready for more.
“Grooming My Replacement” and “The Game” artwork
