Codespeaker – Scavenger (Review)

This is the second album from UK post-metal band Codespeaker.

Featuring current/ex-members of Dvne and Frontierer, Codespeaker have arrived ready to flatten with all of the considerable weight they can bring to bear. Taking influence from the post-metal giants of Neurosis, Cult of Luna, and Isis, Codespeaker have crafted a 51-minute journey into darkness. I’ll also mention bands such as Bossk, Briqueville, and Hundred Year Old Man as appropriate reference points too.

Although you can absolutely hear Codespeaker’s influences in their music, they not only make them their own, but also don’t restrict themselves to these. For example, the music has more hooks and riffs than many post-metal bands do, making for songs that offer a good mix of instant appeal and longevity.

Scavenger is atmospheric and bleak. It’s a harsh exploration of immersive soundscapes, simultaneously building mood-rich structures and abrasive heaviness. There are huge slabs of colossal distortion and raging vocals that spit venomous bile, but there’s also nuance, intricacy, and jaded beauty, delivering a balancing act of the two that’s highly compelling.

Codespeaker use their tools wisely across the songs. They understand atmosphere and intensity, blending the two into music that hypnotises with its absorbing negativity. It is surprisingly brutal in places, yet also shimmers with a rusty resplendent grace that only post-metal seems capable of bringing out in its artists. The songs are tight and focused too, eschewing the epic song lengths that are frequently associated with the genre, and instead saying all they need to say, with potent force, in songs that typically average around the six-minute mark.

Codespeaker have impressed. Well-written, well-realised, well-performed, and well-recorded, this is an extremely enjoyable listen. It’s the sort of album that’s easy to fall deeply into if you are partial to post-metal’s darker waters. Codespeaker have developed enough of their own personality for their character to shine through on Scavenger, making these songs effective at what they do.

For fans of post-metal, doom, and sludge that love the intersection between heaviness and atmosphere, then this is a must.

Very highly recommended.