Band:	Code
Album:	Resplendent Grotesque
Style:	Black metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	June 2009

01. Smother The Crones
02. In The Privacy Of Your Own Bones
03. The Rattle Of Black Teeth
04. Possession Is The Medicine
05. Jesus Fever
06. I Hold Your Light
07. A Sutra Of Wounds
08. The Ascendent Grotesque

How melodic can black metal really get, while still having the necessary brutality remaining so it can still be categorized as black metal? Though I'm not too much of a friend of genre tagging, Code's Resplendent Grotesque would be a rather good album choice to answer this question.

Before their recent, and rather drastic, change in style, Code were a very unique sounding black metal outfit. They stick out in many ways, especially because they perform quite solid blackish music mixed with both guttural and clean vocals by former vocalist Kvohst. He also has a very unique voice and uses it with a lot of energy, adding a lot to the album's overall pretty dark sound. But not only are the vocals a stand out point here. The songwriting as well is excellent, managing to make every song a special experience and displaying the band's qualities. It also is able to generate dark atmospheres through some occasional softer parts that will drag you further into the album's blackness. The good balance between the different vocal styles and different types of rather dark atmospheres provide a fresh amount of variety as well.

The album, however, is quite short with just around 35 minutes of playing time, though their very energetic and highly powerful performance makes the short time really worth it. Resplendent Grotesque might be bad-mouthed by some overly trve black metal heads by being called "overproduced". However, the production fits the album quite well and to me it still manages to make the album sound somewhat raw.

Code offer a great record for open-minded (more melodic) black metal lovers with Resplendent Grotesque. It's full of darkness, it's energetic plus it has quite some variety in it. Let yourself sink "in the grave and stretch out your arms" and enjoy the morbid adventure that this album offers.