Codeon is a Finnish melodic death/thrash metal band that started out in 2002. The band has released one demo and one EP so far, and this year sees the release of their full length album entitled Source, released by Stay Heavy Records. Let’s see what they have to offer.

 

Codeon is a grooving metal band with a thrash and death metal feel to it, but with quite some melody to it. The songs sound pretty solid, yet they don’t really keep my attention even after listening several times. The musicianship is excellent with these guys though, at more than one point I thought I was actually listening to a Necrophagist song because of the complex and fast solo riffing and just the basic sound of it all. This feeling was justified when I found out that guitarist Sami Raatikainen has been added to the ranks of Necrophagist only two years earlier. Quite a skilled player indeed, which comes forward pretty well in the rhythmic technical play of Codeon.

 

The main problem why I lose my attention is the sound of the production, it lacks in dynamics and in force. Also the vocalist is a pretty one-dimensional singer that doesn’t vary too much with his sound. Musically every technical (death) metal guitar freak can eat his heart out with this release. I’d like to hear a more diverse and powerful sound from this band though. Yet keep in mind this is only their first release (and it appears that this material dates back to 2006 before recording it this year), so there is more to come from these guys. If the tight Necrophagist schedule allows it.