Kev Rowland On 15th December 2019, Children Of Bodom, which at the time consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Seppälä (bass), Janne Wirman (keyboard), and Daniel Freyberg (rhythm guitar), held their last concert in Helsinki named, 'A Chapter Called Children of Bodom', before dissolving the band. In 2020, Laiho and Freyberg carried on as Bodom After Midnight, but Laiho was dead before the year was out. Obviously, this album has quite some importance given it is a recording of the last ever performance of one of Finland’s greatest ever metal acts, containing one of metal’s new breed of frontmen and shredders, but putting all the emotion to one side is this as good as one wants it to be?

The short answer is “Yes”, as that night the band were on fire. While no-one realised quite how ill Laiho was, this was planned to be the last ever show for the melodic death metallers and they were determined to go out on a high. I first came across the band at the time of their fourth album ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ after I saw the video for “Needled 24/7” and loved their hugely complex approach with intense note density and complicated melodies which combined shredding with powerful keyboard lines which were far more than just background, since when I followed their releases with interest, and while I enjoyed their other live releases, this takes it to a whole new level. the band were determined to put on a show to remember, reaching all their way to their debut album from 1997 to ensure they provided fans with a great setlist. “Needled 24/7” will probably always be my favourite CoB number, and here it is gets blasted with the whole band putting their heads down to smash it with incredible intensity, yet also with the lightness and interplay one expects.

Children of Bodom cannot exist without Laiho, so there will never be a reunion, but fans will relish in this wonderful performance being captured for all, and I am sure it will also attract new aficionados who will seek out the back catalogue. Here we have a band captured at the height of their live powers and is a fitting tribute and reminder of just what a great guitarist and frontman Alex Laiho was.

siLLy puPPy After two albums with producer Anssi Kippo at the helm, CHILDREN OF BODOM adopted a completely new approach for their third album FOLLOW THE REAPER after choosing Hypocrisy lead singer Peter Tägtgrten to be the next producer after touring with his band in 1998. The band headed to Sweden’s Abyss Studios where Tägtgrten steered the band in a more polished direction. Firstly the band who had already forged a unique blend of neoclassical infused power metal along with death metal and other extreme metal genera focused more on the power metal side of the equation which allowed the once subordinate keyboard runs of Janne Wirman to become an integral part of the band’s overall sound.

FOLLOW THE REAPER focused on harder driving neoclassical melodies still inspired by Mozart but less in your face and sharpened with the instruments playing more independent roles making this third album a much more focused offering in comparison to the previous two albums. Likewise Tägtgrten trained Alexi Laiho to make better use of his raspy guttural growls thus giving him a more controlled style that could span out in a greater range. The album is notorious for various mixing jobs due to the band’s dissatisfaction but the overall effect is an extremely professional sounding extreme metal album that continues the band’s stylistic approach laid out on the debut album “Something Wild.”

CHILDREN OF BODOM came of age with FOLLOW THE REAPER and not only did the album soar to the top of the Finnish charts but also found a positive reception outside of the band’s homeland. Some critics even referred to the album as black metal with the happiest keyboards ever but still uncompromisingly brutal and to be honest that does sort of sum it up. The album is relentless with wickedly brutal guitar, bass and drum performances crafting power metal melodies only infused with neoclassical shredding tradeoffs between the guitar and keyboards only much more refined than the previous offerings. Likewise the keyboard acts as a fourth instrument with independent riffing roles that craft creative counterpoints whereas on the first two albums it remained somewhat in the background for atmospheric effects with occasional soloing outbursts.

With FOLLOW THE REAPER, the band toured the world extensively and experienced a warm welcome due to the album’s extremely strong melodic hooks augmented with a power metal bombast that was contrasted by death, black and metal elements that no other band had really put together in such a way before. As well as the aforementioned changes that solidified the band’s established sound, the compositions on FOLLOW THE REAPER are simply stronger and more varied than before however the neoclassical elements had been tamped down a bit in favor of stronger power metal displays that showcased the guitar and keyboard shredding in completely new ways. To give the album a darker feel, the instruments were set down to D tuning and Laiho’s vocals seem as strong as ever.

With another cover of the Grim Reaper designed by Canadian artists Graham French, the band had also established a visual continuity much like Iron Maiden did with its Eddie album covers with this one’s primary backing color set to stark blue something unusual for metal album covers of the day. For my money, FOLLOW THE REAPER is my pick for favorite CHILDREN OF BODOM album although each album shares the same extraordinary musicianship led by the guitar wizard Alexi Laiho with strong melodic hooks and rampaging metal orotundity. Personally i just find the dynamics to be better mixed and the compositions are nearly perfect with only a few moments of tedium seeping in. When i have the hankering to get my deathened power metal fix, this album is usually the one i head to.

siLLy puPPy CHILDREN OF BODOM caught the metal off guard by doing the unthinkable of mixing neoclassical power metal with elements of death metal, thrash metal and even atmospheric black metal with its debut “Something Wild.” The band found its own distinct sound right out of the gate and one that would launch the band as one of Finland’s greatest metal sensations having topped the charts with four albums in a row but that would come later. At this stage in 1999, bandleader / guitarist / lead vocalist Alexi Laiho was still nurturing that perfect stylistic fusion that wouldn’t totally gel until the band’s third album “Follow The Reaper,” however this sophomore effort HATEBREEDER ramped up the energetic level a bit as well as brought he Mozart inspired neoclassical shredding closer to the forefront.

Originally this album was supposed to be titled “Toward Dead End” but midway through the recording process that began in 1998, the band members decided the title should be changed and the winner was HATEBREEDER which continued the band’s career long tradition of featuring the Grim Reaper on the album cover with a different primary color schematic in this case the distinct green background. The band released the single “Downfall” two weeks before the album’s release which hit #1 on the Finnish charts and propelled the album to gold status in the band’s homeland but at this point CHILDREN OF BODOM hadn’t quite become the international sensation that it would become despite touring with bands like Dimmu Borgir in support of the debut.

HATEBREEDER pretty much followed in the footsteps of “Something Wild” only with more attention to the neoclassical Mozart inspired melodies along with faster tempos, heavier metal rampage and an increased focus on the technical shredding tradeoffs of Laiho’s guitar and Janne Wirman’s keyboard heft. The album was also praised for the unique vocal style that could be described as existing somewhere between the guttural growls of death metal and the raspiness of black metal. The vocals in tandem with the primary power metal style infused with elements form many metal subgenera continued CHILDREN OF BODOM’s unique format that would bring them into the international limelight as the millennial odometer geared closer to a new century.

While CHILDREN OF BODOM’s style is pretty much present on all their releases, it’s all about the subtleties that differentiate them. HATEBREEDER provides a transition where the neoclassical elements would become more prominent although not as in your face as they would become starting with “Follow The Reaper.” The beauty of CHILDREN OF BODOM is that the band caught the melodic vitality of 80s heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest only with the power metal heft of bands like Helloween and Iced Earth along with the darker elements of the more extreme corner of the metal world in both atmosphere and thematic presentation. Overall HATEBREEDER is an excellent consistent flow of one satisfying energetic track after another that features some of WIrman’s most unique keyboard contributions, a trait that would only amplify on subsequent releases.

siLLy puPPy Starting out as Inearthed in Espoo, Finland, CHILDREN OF BODOM formed by guitarist ALex Laiho (R.I.P.) and drummer Jaska Raatikainen would go on to become one of Finland’s most successful metal bands with a string of gold albums. Starting out in 1993, the fledgling Inearthed existed for five years influenced by death metal bands such as Entombed, Cannibal Corpse and Obituary but with the arrival of Janne Warmann on keyboards, the band reinvented itself and emerged as one of the first examples of death metal and power metal fusion. The world would never be the same!

Having developed a unique sound that took several competing metal styles and forcing them to play together, Inearthed was forced to change its name before a recording contract for Spineform Records and after a random perusal through the phone book settled on Lake Bodom which was the scene of some murders. After some reworking, CHILDREN OF BODOM had arrived and released the debut album SOMETHING WILD In 1997 which at the time sounded like nothing else. Death metal didn’t take long to splinter off into a million categories but once thrash metal split into death metal and power metal, the two sort of became the antithesis of each other until CHILDREN OF BODOM changed all that.

Mostly tagged as melodic death metal, SOMETHING WILD comes across more of a power metal album with death metal elements therefore a deathened power metal album that showcases neoclassical wizardry, fast tempos, Iron Maiden inspired gallops and highly melodic tunes leaving only the growly vocals and blastbeats to really bring any death metal attributes to the table. The album showcased the guitar virtuosity of Laiho who has been labeled as one of Finland’s all time greatest guitarists however Warmann’s keyboard wizardry is also of an equal caliber with frenetic soloing tradeoffs that are highlighted on the Slayer cover “Silent Scream” that is included as a bonus track on some CDs.

Added to the aggressive mix of melodic power metal and death metal grit, SOMETHING WILD also features an interesting black metal atmosphere which possibly was gleaned from touring with Dimmu Borgir. There are also moments of thrash metal attacks and many moments of good old fashioned 80s heavy metal coming through in the mix. The music is really quite unclassifiable as it wriggles around through various stylistic moments but its’ perhaps the neoclassical underpinnings most apparent by the Mozart inspired intro of “Red Light In My Eyes Pt 2” that defines the CHILDREN OF BODOM sound.

This is one of the bands that seems to get a lot a hate. Purists of both death metal and power metal find CHILDREN OF BODOM to be an unthinkable bastardization of two classic metal styles but for those of us who aren’t so hung up on genre purities, i personally find this music to be quite fascinating in how it manages to juggle all these disparate stylistic effects and fuse them together to proficiently. CHILDREN OF BODOM truly hit the ground running and propelled themselves to the top fo the melo-death tiers with this eclectic and energetic mix of extreme metal styles. While i can’t say CHILDREN OF BODOM has ever topped my list of favorite all-time metal bands, i am always in awe of the musicianship on display and the maturity of the compositions. Excellent debut.

Kev Rowland The band couldn’t stay as a quartet outside the studio as their sound needs that double hit of guitars, so in 2016 they brought in Daniel Freyberg (ex-Naildown and ex-Norther). It must be a hard job settling in with a group of guys who have been together longer than many marriages, but certainly when it comes to the sound, he seems right at home having spent the last three years on the road with them. Straight from the off on this this record, one thing that is immediately noticeable is the seeming higher presence of keyboard player Janne Warman. Laiho agrees, “Yes, he’s played a big part of every single album, but this time this might seem even more prominent only because of the sounds that he uses. Because the funny thing is that on, let’s say, ‘I Worship Chaos’ or ‘Halo of Blood’, the keyboards were there all the time, but you might not even know that they’re there because he’s doubling my guitars with some insane, super-low octave sound that doesn’t really stick out. So maybe he pops out more on this album, and I guess he has more of a main role in a lot of parts of the songs.”

This album feels more melodic, more commercial in many places, than some of their previous albums and it is hard to know if this is down to the larger emphasis on keyboards, the production, or the new member of the band. Certainly, Raatikainen is hitting the drums as hard as he has for more than quarter of the century, and his double bass blastbeats are there in evidence, but one has to really listen to them as he has been pushed more into the background. The band have used Mikko Karmilla to mix their sound for years, but here it feels muddier and not as clean – it is really noticeable when playing this album straight after the last one, as the sound is quite different indeed. Interestingly the band have also gone back in time and have revisited a song they had recorded before, 2002’s “Knuckleduster”, as it was felt it wasn’t treated correctly first time around. Unfortunately, Laiho didn’t have the lyrics for the verse, so had to write new ones. This is the last song on the album and shows the band with some of their heaviest elements, which contrast well with the keyboards. When Children of Bodom get it right there are few in the world to match them, and even when slightly under par they are one of the best bands in the metallic universe.

Although I would have liked to have heard this with slightly different production, yet again Children of Bodom have produced the goods.