Six years after their crazy roller coaster mut, England’s shapeshifters CODE return with Flyblown Prince. On this new effort, CODE don't stretch the "avant-garde" approach (rather Post Rock) any further and make a little step back instead, towards more Black Metal, aggressiveness and frostiness, yet, it is still no fast-forward-chainsaw-massacre. On Flyblown Prince CODE though somehow manage to bring their progressive standards straighter and with crispy melodies into the ears of the listeners, compact on 44 minutes.
All this makes it so much easier to dive into the crazy world of the boys from Surrey. Songs are packed with wicked twists and turns, dissonant riffwork, clean vocals and orchestral passages. Additionally, Flyblown Prince shines with a cold and biting yet a quite clean Black Metal production. Even a comparatively calm and psychedelic track such as From The Next Room, that resembles good ol' Anathema, gets wrapped in an icy atmosphere. Besides, CODE master the straight fields (Rat King) as well as technically sophisticated stuff as in Scold‘s Bridle.
If you want to say so, Flyblown Prince ends with a missing piece from the predecessor mut, as the 12 minutes running The Mad White Hair is a dark rollercoaster with whispered passages, Pink Floyd feeling and fantastic solos.
Summary: Even with a step back CODE don't make it easy for the listener to get an easy access to their sound cosmos. Flyblown Prince is a sparkling well of creative and fresh ideas, combined with nasty Black Metal and excellent melodies. You should have listened to Flyblown Prince!