"Live in the Netherlands" is an interesting live album for a couple of reasons. First, code just released a new album called "mut" not too long ago. And secondly, this live performance took place BEFORE "mut." Why does any of that matter? In the case of the band code, it does. They have, over the last few albums, evolved musically and truly progressed. They started life as a black metal band and slowly became more extreme metal on the album "Augur nox" which this is in support of. "mut" was yet a further step in their evolution as it is progressive rock merged with post-rock.
So why release a live album? Since the band hadn't toured the Netherlands in a while and most likely wouldn't be touring again since the band resides all over the globe. "Live in the Netherlands" is a snapshot of a moment in time for a band that is constantly growing and changing. The recording sounds truly live and not overly polished which is good! Too many live albums are so cleaned up in the studio that they aren't really live when all is said and done. The performance is stellar as this lineup of code had seemed to gel by the time this album was recorded.
If you liked "mut" like I did and maybe you weren't aware of the history of code, this album might be a surprise. If you are a fan of the band's history and evolution or just love progressive black metal, this is an album you have to own.
