I Am King
| I Am King | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Code Orange | ||||
| Released | September 2, 2014 | |||
| Recorded | God City Studios (Salem, Massachusetts); The Pit (Van Nuys, California); The Braddock Hit Factory (Braddock, Pennsylvania) | |||
| Genre | Metalcore,hardcore punk, post-hardcore | |||
| Length | 32:23 | |||
| Label | Deathwish (DW161) | |||
| Producer | Kurt Ballou | |||
| Code Orange chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 87/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Alternative Press |   |
| Consequence of Sound | B |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 |
| Punknews.org |  |
| Rock Sound | 9/10 |
I Am King is the second studio album by American hardcore punk band Code Orange and first to be released under this moniker after previously being referred to as "Code Orange Kids." The Kurt Ballou-produced album was released on September 2, 2014 through Deathwish Inc. To promote the album, Code Orange released music videos for the tracks "I Am King" and "Dreams in Inertia," in addition to an online stream for "My World."
Code Orange entered the studio with Kurt Ballou in February 2014. Ballou is the guitarist of Converge and previously recorded Code Orange's 2012 debut album Love Is Love/Return to Dust. Code Orange drummer Jami Morgan described I Am King as a "different" album that will mark "a very new era for our band," and also elaborated: "A lot of the heavier parts are heavier and sometimes more obvious. A lot of the odd parts are weirder and a little more anti-social. Things are a lot more blended together." After the band wrote the "skeletons" of the songs for I Am King, Code Orange revisited the tracks to look for moments where they could, "incorporate these little sonic nuggets that excited us or intrigued us." The songs were also influenced by metal acts such as the groove metal band Sepultura, metalcore band Prayer for Cleansing and grunge band Alice in Chains.
Code Orange (then known as Code Orange Kids) began teasing the release of its sophomore album 7 months in advance in February 2014 by posting an image of a green panther with a black backdrop accompanied by the phrase "King 2014" on its social media sites. The following month, Code Orange launched a mysterious viral marketing campaign and website dubbed "Thinners of the Herd," which asked for fans' names and home addresses.
In June 2014, Code Orange released a music video for the title track, "I Am King," directed by Max Moore. Writing for Exclaim!, Gregory Adams said "I Am King" is "a little gory" and also said, "While the black and white video strings together savage shots of the group ripping through fast and punchy hardcore licks and a monster of a mosh section from inside a straw-strewn barn, there's even more menacing footage mixed into the clip's runtime." In July 2014, Code Orange released an online stream of the song "My World," followed by a music video for "Dreams in Inertia" in August 2014, again directed by Max Moore. Writing for Fangoria, Samuel Zimmerman described the "Dreams in Inertia" video, stating: "Admittedly mellower (for a spell), the video for 'Dreams in Inertia' is full of occult vibes and lo-fi creep." Adams also discussed the video, commenting: "While we see the band delivering the tune throughout the video, we also get a glimpse of a guy's bathtub purification and a dour crew's march through a forest filled with nooses. Code Orange meet up with the other faction late in the video to offer a few sips of Kool-Aid, which may not be a gesture of good faith."I Am King was made available for online streaming in its entirety a week ahead of its release on August 26.
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