Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe praises Code Orange

Randy Blythe
Randy Blythe

Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has heaped praise on Code Orange’s new album Forever.

Blythe says on Instagram that he doesn’t listen to a lot of heavy music because he hears it while out on tour and that not enough bands are different enough to capture his attention – until he heard Code Orange.

He adds: “Sure, the technical abilities of young musicians is astounding these days – and you see these 12-year-old insane shredders, because they learned to play listening to all these technical bands and YouTubing their songs.

“But – no offence to these kids and I know this is gonna piss some people off but I don’t care because it’s the truth and needs to be said – so what?

“So they can play someone else’s song – big fucking deal. Who cares? Can they write a song? And if they do, does it sound like everyone else?”

He continues: “I’d rather listen to Chet Baker or Swans or Scratch Acid or Bad Brains or Prince Far I or Black Sabbath or Otis Redding.

“So it’s been a while since I’ve cranked a record by younger heavy band, then immediately played it again and then again. Code Orange’s latest album Forever is that record, though. Someone call the brutality police, because this album crushes.

“It’s fucking ugly and they mined a lot of different influences: hardcore, metal, industrial, noise and made their own sound. The production is big without sounding over-polished – and the drums sound like real drums that an actual human is hitting, thank God.”

He adds: “They also came up the right way, paying their dues just like my band and most of my friends’ bands did – playing the DIY spaces.

“Kids don’t seem to want to do that these days – I blame American Idol. These young cats paid dues and I respect that. Salute to the young bloods doing it right.”

Code Orange are currently on the road across Europe with Gojira and will tour North America later this year with Anthrax and Killswitch Engage. Find their full 2017 tour itinerary below.

Meanwhile, Lamb Of God will hook up with Slayer and Behemoth this summer for a run of shows across North America.

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Code Orange 2017 tour dates

Mar 20: Brussels AB, Belgium
Mar 21: Hamburg Markthalle, Germany
Mar 23: Berlin Kesselhaus, Germany
Mar 24: Stuttgart LKA Longhorn, Germany
Mar 25: Luxembourg Rockhal Club, Luxembourg
Mar 26: Utrecht Tivoli Vredenburg, Netherlands
Mar 27: Zurich X-TRA, Switzerland
Mar 28: Fribourg Fri-Son, Switzerland
Mar 29: Martigny Sunset Bar, Switzerland
Mar 30: Munich Theaterfabrik, Germany
Apr 01: Paris Olympia, France
Apr 02: Paris Olympia, France
Apr 11: Raleigh The Ritz, NC
Apr 12: Atlanta Tabernacle, GA
Apr 13: Lake Buena Vista House Of Blues, FL
Apr 16: Pharr Boggus Ford Events Center, TX
Apr 17: Houston House Of Blues, TX
Apr 18: Dallas House Of Blues, TX
Apr 20: Tempe The Marquee, AZ
Apr 22: Los Angeles The Wiltern, CA
Apr 23: San Francisco The Fillmore, CA
Apr 25: Seattle Showbox SoDo, WA
Apr 26: Portland Roseland Theater, OR
Apr 28: Denver The Fillmore Auditorium, CO
Apr 29: Omaha Sokol Auditorium, NE
Apr 30: Kansas City Arvest Bank Theatre, MO
May 01: St Louis The Pageant, MO
May 02: Toledo Frankies, OH
May 03: Toronto Danforth Music Hall, ON
May 05: Huntington The Paramount, NY
May 06: Clifton Park Upstate Concert Hall, NY
May 07: Boston House Of Blues, MA
May 16: Niagara Falls Rapids Theatre, NY
May 17: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
May 18: Grand Rapids 20 Monroe Live, MI
Jun 02: Eifel Rock Am Ring Festival, Germany
Jun 09: Paris Download festival, France
Jun 16: Nickelsdorf Nova Rock, Austria
Jun 17: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jul 14: Chicago Open Air, IL
Jul 15: Oshkosh Rock USA, WI
Aug 18: Las Vegas Psycho Las Vegas, NV

Why new Code Orange album Forever is one of the most important releases of 2017

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.