To describe Keygen Church as “MBR but church music” undersells the premise; I’d rather call it “MBR by way of Beethoven.” Performed live, Nel Nome Del Codice would sound more at home in a classical music hall than a metal venue; not just from the presence of organs, pianos, and choirs in addition to the trademark MBR floppy synths, but rather from how they play into and around each other and the sheer intricacy of the Baroque-inspired melodies. Love wields his digital arsenal of instruments with uncanny grace. The pre-release literature remarks that Nel Nome Del Codice is “100% Dehumanized,” but there is a distinctly human touch in how Love attacks the individual notes and chords of the organs and pianos. I’m assured that the choirs are fake, but when they’re at their most powerful in the opening of “La Voce Del Destino,” I cannot help but believe in their authenticity.
Love’s secret weapon for writing such compelling music is how he sets up and executes powerful moments of musical grandeur. It’s that exhilarating split-second where an orchestra pauses as the conductor’s hands are frozen, poised with kinetic energy, before they swing up and the music erupts. To examine this closely, look to “Che Sia Vita O Morte.” Languid, mournful piano passages or, in the song’s second half, spacious organ chords slow to a crawl and then drop off before the synths return with an enormous impact that hits all the harder for the preceding build-up. “Il Paradiso Dell’Anima” shines a different light on this idea by weaving energetic, lightning-quick pianos betwixt the heavier synths and organs, like a dancer leading you into the next grand movement before darting back out again. This give and take is used throughout Nel Nome Del Codice, and it’s magnificent. Naturally, this only works because the music itself is excellent, but that fact feels secondary to the greater context the music gains by always building towards and delivering on that next great moment of grandeur.
When this technique is applied to an entire song’s structure, you get unbelievably heavy hitters like “La Chiave Del Mi Amor” and “Nel Nome Del Codice.” “La Chiave…” works towards the aforementioned grandeur in both directions; crescendoing pipe organs, leading into a Phantom of the Opera organ sequence over the album’s single greatest riff, leading into a spellbinding piano movement, leading, leading, leading into the explosive outro as every instrument in turn prepares you for the final moments. The title track carefully constructs a matrimonious atmosphere until a quick synth line opens the floodgates for a world-shattering riff and apocalyptic choirs that sound like what you’d get if you threw the Doom Slayer into a Castlevania game. Such high peaks cast long shadows, though, wherein lie the album’s brief instances of wasted potential. The heavier synths in “Se Hai Timore Del Vero” prematurely end just as they hit their stride, and would’ve better built up the song’s latter half were they longer. On the flip side, the falling action of “Lode Al Disco Sacro” feels somewhat drawn out and could use a trim. Even so, the high moment-to-moment quality of the music easily offsets a minor structuring complaint or two.
In a word, Nel Nome Del Codice is massive. Every chord is struck with such intent, such force as to rupture the very walls of our Church. And yet every note is played, every melody is written with such intimacy, that what can I do but weep? This, doomed reader, is the music of your reprogramming. Our digital rapture is here… and it is beautiful. Praise The Code.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: keygenchurch.bandcamp | keygenchurch.facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 22nd, 2024
