Not much to go on here as this EP lasts only 12 minutes, but the band themselves are well established with four albums. I was particularly impressed with “Lost Signal”, an EP released at the beginning of this year, which I described then as “an imaginative description of nightmares”.

I suppose it was no surprise that there’s no concession made to filling the limited time frame. “Toll” recalls the bell’s toll, but note it is singular. It’s almost as if the track hasn’t started. The single echo is heard every few seconds. It’s bold, experimental, minimalistic and frightening. By contrast, ghastly utterances and carcinogenic blackness signal the start to “Plot of Skinned Heavens”. “Structureless!” roars the vocalist, and that’s how it proceeds. Cacophony, distortion, nightmares and visions of a disharmonious world are at the forefront of the following five minutes. But in spite of the insanity, the musical output is accomplished and intense. There’s always a hint of black metal and this manifests itself clearly in “Pollution Vigil”. The chorus, if that’s what it is, is like hardcore punk. In summary it’s violent and nasty, and has at its heart its punishing instrumentals. I can only liken “Cave Soul” to a drunken haze. What it does demonstrate is that Code are as good at creating psychotic states as they are at producing chaotic and anarchic black metal.

For such a short piece, this manages to get away from the pretence of any sort of normality and presents a world of mental illnesses in the form of imaginative black metal. In all honesty, there was more to get into on “Lost Signal” but “Under The Subgleam” makes its highly unconventional mark too.

(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/codeblackmetal

https://apocalypticwitchcraft.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-subgleam