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RELEASE DATE: 2008-06-18
LABEL: Stay Heavy Records
TRACKLIST:
01. The Shrike
02. Deception
03. Betrayer In Me
04. Humanity Inspection
05. Shattermind
06. Death Is All We Get
07. Destination Decoder
08. Envy Machinery
09. Sick From The Inside
10. Rebirth
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Source
Codeon
THE REVIEW:
Finnish metal scene is doing well. We have a lot of magnificent bands breaking into the mainstream and new ones are budding constantly. Here and there true pearls are born. They developed slowly as the real pearls within an oyster. This is also true with Codeon, a Finnish death/thrash metal band. They started their journey 2002 in Hellsinki, the metal capital of the Finland and probably the whole world too. Codeon went through few line-up changes until the first working assemblage was found around 2003 along with joining of Vesa Mattila (vocals). Band played some gigs in 2004 and experienced one more line-up change when guitarist Asko Sartanen joined the band. They also finished recording their first EP “On My Side” and started looking for a record label. In 2005, they participated to a band competition positioning among top four and thereby obtaining an opportunity to perform in finals in Finnish Metal Expo ’05. They finished second and were signed with Dies Irae Records. At the end of the year the band saw one more change in the line-up as Jonatan became the new drummer. In 2007, Dies Irae Rocords was acquired by Stay Heavy Records. Codeon spend almost two years making their debut album which finally saw daylight in June 2008.
“Source” opens strongly with “The Shrike”. One hardly can think of a tougher opening. It hits you in the face and keeps bounding you throughout the three and half minute. Shrike contains the best riffing and guitar works I´ve heard for a while. This brought up high expectations toward the rest of the album. No worries, “Source” does deliver. Another strong moment is the third track “Betrayed In Me” along its catchy choruses which wasn´t very common in this album. “Humanity Inspection”, “Shattered Mind” and “Death Is All We Get” all are solid tracks with amazing guitar playing. I liked a lot about “Envy Machinery”, the longest track of the album. The closure “Rebirth” left nicely the listener to be hungry for more. Total length of those ten tracks is about 45 min, just perfect.
“Source” is an excellent debut album. At first, it reminded me of Amoral, great Finnish technical death metal act and especially their “Decrowning” album but the more I listened to “Source”, the more it started to sound itself. Throughout the record, guitar work impresses me. I often listen to the guitars most carefully and “Source” is filled with brilliant guitar playing and technically amazing hooks. Knowing that Sami Raatikainen also plays guitar in Necrophagist, a German technical death metal band that is often acknowledged as a skilled band, this isn´t so surprising. I simply loved Vesa Mattila´s voice. His ability to produce growling that doesn´t sound forced in any way is notable. I´ve heard enough of attempts to sound fierce and strong but the result is more or less funny. Mattila´s deep growling isn´t from this world; it´s a voice of an ancient demon waken. The long time Codeon spend with this one really paid off. End result is quite mature and solid entity that hooks the listener from the first note. If something negative has to be said, it would definitely be that “Source” is perhaps too even album. Every track is filled with technical wonders and great vocals but it is pretty hard to point out one particular song. In future I truly wish that Codeon would expand their repertoire and add a little more versatility to their songs in next album.
POSTED BY: Phage on 2008-07-06
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