Jami Morgan, singer for Pittsburgh metal band Code Orange, discusses new album, hometown festival

Jami Morgan thinks the next year could be pivotal for Code Orange, the Pittsburgh metal band that’s already been nominated for two Grammys.

“This feels like the end of one journey and hopefully the beginning of another,” Morgan said Wednesday.

The dawning of their new era officially starts Friday with the release of their fifth studio album, “The Above,” followed by their inaugural festival, Code’s World, on Saturday at Preserving Underground in New Kensington.

“I swear to God on my life, I’ve been working on something related to this record every day for three years. It’s got my soul in it, so that’s kind of a scary feeling, but hopefully my soul wasn’t rejected, but we’ll find out,” he said with a laugh.

The album — “It’s really a new creative level for us,” Morgan said — could be the entrance to a wider audience.

At times, it sounds like classic Code Orange, with metalcore songs like “The Game” and “Grooming My Replacement.” Yet there’s also more mainstream appeal with a hard rock song like “Take Shape,” which features the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, as well as the trippy “Mirror,” which has lead vocals from guitarist Reba Meyers.

“I really do think if you are into alternative music in general, there’s going to be something for you to like, and I think that there’s stuff that’s more rooted in what we do, but the majority of it is new territory that’s kind of built on seeds that have been planted in the past,” Morgan said. “It’s a (expletive) ride of a record, man. It’s one of those records that I really feel is like watching a movie or something where you need to get the full experience.”

The band’s lead singer and former drummer, Morgan maintained that the album is more accessible, but it’s maintained the artful qualities the band is known for. One of the challenges for Code Orange in the past seemingly has been bridging metal and hardcore.

“There’s still a layer of — some layer of not inaccessibility — but it’s hard to get through that gate. It’s a very detailed piece, and I think it just captures everything we really love about alternative music from the hard sphere to things that are a lot softer, and I think it’s also still a push forward while looking back,” Morgan said. “And that was the goal: make something reminiscent of a time period and albums that we love but make it in a way that kind of never been made at that point. So I think we were successful in doing that.”

Part of the band’s intent with “The Above” was to make a “much hookier, stickier record,” just like the albums Morgan said he goes back to when he wants to listen to music. But he also stressed that the band — Morgan, Meyers, guitarist/programmer Eric “Shade” Balderose, bassist Joe Goldman, guitarist Dominic Landolina and drummer Max Portnoy — stayed true to its identity without sacrificing their artistic ideals.

“I feel like we kind of make things to fill the void of, at bare minimum, what we don’t feel like is out there,” Morgan said. “I don’t know if it’s something that will click in terms of popularity or whatever because it’s hard to know, right?

“But there’s definitely no album out there right now that is like it at all. One hundred percent I can say that with total certainty. There are aspects in our songs — ‘Oh, this song sounds like this and this’ — but as a whole, as a piece, I think it’s totally unique. I think there’s totally a void for it, and we’ll see how things line up. But it’s its own animal, I really believe.”

Morgan cited the mid to late 1990s as a specific era that influenced this record, whether it’s metal (Pantera), grunge (Nirvana and Alice in Chains), industrial (Nine Inch Nails), shoegaze (Chapterhouse, Ride and My Bloody Valentine), singer/songwriter music or trip-hop. (Just to further the 1990s connection, they worked with famed engineer Steve Albini, who worked on Nirvana’s “In Utero” album.)

“It’s a time period where art and commerce and venom were a part of many different kinds — there’s also a lot of horse(crap), of course — but there were a lot of things that were working from mid-level to mainstream that were really artful but also stood the test of time in terms of songwriting, in terms of catchiness, that also were like very in your face and aggressive and not operating out of fear or operating out of this malaise or this processed, plastic-y thing that kind of dominates a lot of rock and heavy music now,” Morgan said. “If anything, that’s what we’re inspired by, just a time where art, commerce, beauty, violence — not in a literal sense, but aggression, in your face — (existed). … I don’t know, I feel like we just found our own little corner and we did it in a very Code Orange way, combining things that haven’t been combined.”

Morgan made sure to emphasize that “The Above” isn’t just a trip down memory lane: “At the same time, those bands (expletive) rocked. That’s the last era of rock music that actually mattered and actually had culturally relevant albums.” Other influences on the album come from hardcore, hip hop and electronic music.

“I think all these things kind of bleed together to create this amalgamation of sound that really describes who we’ve always been,” Morgan said. “It’s like culturally, we’re hardcore/punk kids, but we pull from all these different corners and create this collage of sound. So hopefully we make something that’s 5, 10, 15% new at least. That’s the goal.”

On the creation front, the genesis of the sold-out Code’s World began just with the idea of a show, but it blossomed into a festival, in part inspired by Preserving Underground’s multi-stage setup. The lineup includes hardcore legends Madball as well as 10 other up-and-coming metal and hardcore bands. But future shows could prove more eclectic, as Code Orange continues in its evolution.

“We’re not a band that sells out every show, that’s for sure,” Morgan said. “So it feels good and it’s nice. It’s something I wish we felt more often. It’s great. I’m happy about it, for sure.”

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To cement the band’s do-it-yourself ethos, for this interview, Morgan had taken a break from helping to stage the New Kensington venue ahead of Code’s World.

“I mean, we’re here right now setting this whole festival up. We booked the bands, we’re creating the visuals, we’re physically putting the visuals together, we’re involved in every element, every shirt, every everything,” Morgan said. “I mean, we produced this album. Me and Shade directed the last video, ‘Mirror.’ Me and Max Moore, our old collaborator who is awesome, directed the ‘Take Shape’ video. Me and my sister created all the artwork for the whole album, so it’s a family affair. It’s a Pittsburgh affair. It’s a DIY affair always.”

Code Orange has been nominated twice for Metal Album of the Year Grammys — for 2018’s “Forever” and 2021’s “Underneath” — but Morgan expects even more growth and transformation for the band.

“I feel like, when you look back at Code Orange in the future, you’re going to see us do a lot of things that a lot of other metal bands don’t like to do. We’ve been criticized for a lot of it, but on the same token, it’s what sets us apart. It’s what keeps us fresh.

“There’s multiple times we could have died out already … But you have to grow and change and evolve and shapeshift and still stay rooted, and I think that’s what we’re doing now. That’s what this album really is, and I just can’t wait. I’m really excited to do this, especially this Pittsburgh show. I really want people to see the full picture because I’m fine with people judging us and commenting on us, but a lot of what I see is people doing that while just taking a glance. Once this whole thing’s out there, it’ll be nice to see if there are people like me who have been looking for something like this.”