Please note that this is a 3" CD, so you will require a disc player with a hub or tray that fits this size disc.

On their website, this interesting little "single" is introduced by the band with the Latin phrase “Terribilis est locus iste” ("how awesome is this place"), a visionary quote from the biblical book of Genesis that adds to the enigmatic tone of these two newer songs. How this connects with the two new songs captured here only the band knows. But it's this kind of erudition and eccentricity that has made this British outfit stick out from their contemporaries for as long as I've been listening to them.

Hunting For Caesar is this new two-song EP from Code (or < Code >, as they often refer to themselves) that just sorta popped up out of nowhere; both of the songs were previously released on their Bandcamp page last summer, but are (happily) now made physical in this mini-disc, in a miniature jacket and limited to one hundred copies. Code's aural assault advances the stylish trajectory the band has been on for over two decades now: a foundation of blazing, frost-bitten blackness with Nordic undertones braided with aspects of progressive rock and more avant-garde sound craft. These guys have always sounded like what you'd expect from a band initially comprised of members of equally imaginative "black metal" bands like Dodheimsgard, Arcturus,and Ved Buens Ende, and both of these cuts continue in that signature mode of heavily prog-rock influenced black metal with huge, anthemic choruses folded within sprawling arrangements that are almost operatic in scale. Yeah, there's little else in this sphere that delivers exactly what it is that Code commands; I've been a big fan of these guys since their releases on Agonia hit my ears, the baffling and bludgeoning avant-garde black metal of 2013's Augur Nox really twisting my neurons up in a knot. Diving into their catalog from there has been a blast; every release has it's own unique flavor of complex crush, an artistry in their tangled and tumultuous compositions, executed at varying levels of auditory violence.

On Hunting For Caesar, the sound harkens back to the general vibe of their Resplendent Grotesque material, with its frothing, fanged ferocity that exudes an almost hardcore punk-like level of savagery. It's some of their most feral stuff in recent memory. Opener "The Long Drop" comes rushing in, vicious and fast-moving, snarling vocals shifting into a killer, soaring baritone as the band winds through a blitz of discordant riffing, battering tempos and hypnotic rhythm changes; the band's signature blend of Voivodian / Ved Buens Ende-esque guitar dissonance clashes magnificently against the song's more regal elements, while the latter half moves into a mid-tempo groove that's as urgent as it is atmospheric. The title track likewise crafts a hammering fusion of primal riffs and tangled chordal forms with shredding that soars skyward, histrionic shrieks and dramatic singing, and this general air of exquisite, convoluted intensity that charges the air around this music with a black electricity as it careens towards a powerful, vaguely King Crimson-esque climax. It's certainly Code at their best; I wish there was a lyric sheet that came with this disc, as the band's lyrical prowess has always added an intriguing quality to their chaos. But regardless, this short EP blew my face off. Only Code radiates this particular species of crazed black blast woven with prog and avant-rock influence. Delivers just enough of a fix to hold me over as I'm panting for a new album. If you're hooked on the sound and feel of bands like Hail Spirit Noir., Virus, later Enslaved as well as the aforementioned bands whose members helped form the Code, you gotta get on this.