RESPLENDENT GROTESQUE

Well, this one took a while to actually click with me. But hell, it did, big time. Huge time. Mega explosion time.

What we have here is a band based both in England and Norway. It is a sort avant-black metal supergroup, with people from Dodheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende, and with such former members such as the singer in Arcturus. But to be honest, he's not really missed. Because Kvohst is here! Kvohst, British Black Metal singer, who was in Dodheimsgard for starters in their fantastic album "Supervillain Outcast"- really truly blows this out of the water. And I mean really. He displays here a fantastic range, a range I didn't hear from him before- and really does make the album for me. That is, not to say the music in itself isn't good- but with Kvohst the music truly meshes into something quite incredible in this album- some of the most memorable, beautiful, and simply catchy melodies that this album dishes out. It is Kvohst that serves it so nicely that I can't imagine the album without him.

So what do we have here? This is music firmly planted in the black metal school, and while I won't say that this album is insanely eclectic, it offers at times extremely powerful riffs and at other times some really interesting chord progressions and songwriting. But again, it's truly Kvohst's vocals that bring it all together. He will usually will go through banshee vocals to growling and finally to this croon, which bizarrely enough can at times remind of Morrisey. This does bring a very different element, a more melodic, though at the same times still very distilling. Kvohst usually also adds vocal harmonies to the recording and the sound is so full and well done that it can get quite beautiful. I feel as if the first song "Smother the Crones" is really a song that shows off the bands sound the best. A huge blasting beginning, impressive banshee vocals, and lastly, an absolutely epic chorus which wins me over with Kvohst's vocals.

With that, may I add that Vicotnik's bass is just superb. Usually he displays these fluid melodic bass lines that are a joy by themselves. But seriously the musicianship here is fantastic all around.

I find I want to keep this one short. Absolute must if you're a fan of the avant-black metal scene, but also perhaps worth checking out even if you're not, as the powerful melodies may win you over.

"Resplendent Grotesque" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Norwegian/English black metal act Code. The album was released through Tabu Recordings in June 2009. In the years between the band's debut full-length studio album "Nouveau Gloaming (2005)" and "Resplendent Grotesque", lead vocalist Kvohst and bassist Viper (aka Vicotnik) busied themselves with the recording of D'dheimsgard's 4th full-length studio album "Supervillain Outcast (2007)".

...and there are many similarities between the two projects. Most prominently the distinct sounding lead vocals by Kvohst. His aggressive raspy vocals are caustic as ever, but it's his soaring clean vocals and vocal melodies that stand out the most. Another thing the two projects have in common are the elegant use of dissonance in their music. The music on "Resplendent Grotesque" is not quite as progressive nor is it as adventurous as the music on "Supervillain Outcast (2007)" though. The music on "Resplendent Grotesque" is relatively simple in structure even though the band often incorporate the odd progressive section to keep things interesting. It is Kvohst's vocals and strong voice, that makes all the difference here though. He is such a skilled and distinct sounding vocalist.

The band are very well playing and the powerful and clear sound production suits the music well. While the tracks are well composed it's only a few that really stand out and about half of the tracks on the album could have been a bit more memorable. They are still great tracks, but I just feel they could have been better. Some of the tracks that stand out are "Smother the Crones", "In the Privacy of Your Own Bones", "The Rattle of Black Teeth" and "Jesus Fever". While "Resplendent Grotesque" isn't a consistently excellent release, it's still a high quality album for fans of the more twisted and slightly progressive part of the black metal spectrum (acts like Void, Ved Buens Ende and especially D'dheimsgard come to mind) and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is fully deserved.