Code Orange on Nine Inch Nails' Overwhelming Influence, Inspiration | Revolver

Code Orange on Nine Inch Nails' Overwhelming Influence, Inspiration

Jami Morgan and Shade Balderose talk Trent Reznor, 'Broken,' 'The Downward Spiral' and more

The hurt will go on — so declared Code Orange at the top of 2018, less than a year after the rising Pittsburgh hardcore act dropped a bomb on the scene with 2017's Grammy-nominated breakthrough Forever. The band have been upholding that vow all year long with several one-off tracks and remixes and now, a new, five-track EP titled — wait for it — The Hurt Will Go On.

Comprising two new songs (including "The Hunt," an industrial-flavored collaboration with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor) and three reworked tracks, the surprise release functions as both a companion piece to Forever, expanding its predecessors' pain-ridden sonic universe with swathes of harsh noise and high-impact electronica.

Between the gut-wrenching decibel count, the mystery-enshrouded rollout, the caustic-yet-catchy arrangements, and the overarching connections to previous material, The Hurt Will Go On is bound to net Code Orange a few Nine Inch Nails comparisons, and rightly so: Trent Reznor's music played a critical role in shaping the new EP, as well as the band's music writ large, drummer Jami Morgan and guitarist Shade Balderose tell Revolver in a new video interview.

Morgan credits Nine Inch Nails' 1992 EP Broken (billed as a prologue of sorts to 1994's revered album The Downward Spiral) as a muse for Code Orange's foray into deep musical world-building. "There's so much there," he gushes. "I feel like that's something we really want to try and implement in our music more than anything. It's the idea that you can weave a record like it's a movie or something, where every time you go back there's something new."

Meanwhile, Balderose explains his fascination with NIN's infamous 1992 "snuff" film Broken, and how Reznor's art creates a death-grip on listeners' ears, eyes and minds. "There's no plot," smiles the guitarist. "There's only the development of torture."