This was an interesting release; it's called "Live In The Netherlands", maybe there just wasn't much of a crowd. No offence to the band, the other possibility is that whoever set it up didn't set up an audience mic, so there wasn't much sound to them? I don't know but that's sort of beside the point. CODE and their new... live... album are here with Black Metal goodness to make you happy in the pants. The Netherlands are known to release some spectacular Metal bands, notably CARACH ANGREN and THE DEVILS BLOOD, the latter of which are named after a WATAIN song (who ironically are named after a VON song). Although the band themselves are from the UK, you can tell from this release how comfortable CODE is on stage in different countries.

After 8 songs and 45 minutes you've got to notice, at some point, that this is no traditional Black Metal band, and CODE use influences from many outside sources to make a unique sounding sound, between the softer Black Metal style of PRIMORDIAL that almost takes on a Traditional Doom style and the more intense BATHORY and IMMORTAL style of aggressive Black Metal. The most notable songs for these transitions are "The Rattle Of Black Teeth" and "White Tryptych", the former of these two uses more of a PRIMORDIAL sound to set the tone and tell a story while the more aggressive side is to grab your attention and keep you hooked. The song features many amazing riffs, but none quite as drawing as in "Becoming Host." In the song "Becoming Host" guitarists Aort and Andras simply run the scale for a portion of their riff and it's done with such a precise timing that it creates an atmosphere of its own. Simply said, CODE wrote, preformed and rocked these songs. Nothing fancy, just some good ol' fashion Black Metal from a country that knows Black Metal written by some dudes from the country that INVENTED METAL!

CODE was "Live In The Netherlands" and I wish I was there, or maybe one day they'll come here. CODE sound like they put on one hell of a show that would need to be seen, they can dominate their stuff live and it sounds like a "must be heard live" kind of tune. Black Metal is always best live, no gritty recording studio, no "I want no one to hear anything beside buzz" it's just pure honest music made for the Devil himself and CODE know how to write music the Devil would mosh to in hell.