Valkyrian Music

Children of Bodom
I Worship Chaos
Released 2nd October 2015
Melodic Death Metal / Power Metal
Released via Nuclear Blast Records

Here comes the Reaper with his Hate Crew…! The Finnish extreme metal band Children of Bodom are back with a new album, the follow up to ‘Halo of Blood’. This is the first album to feature just Alexi Laiho on guitars following the departure of their rhythm guitarist Roope Latvala back in May. Janne Wirman’s younger brother Antti Wirman will be playing guitar at their live shows until the end of the year. The band will then decide who replaces Roope Latvala on a permanent basis.

After a somewhat unexpected, eerie dark ambient intro I Hurt kicks off with the familiar sounds of Wirman’s ultra fast, yet melodic keyboards and Laiho’s equally fast guitar riffs. Mr. Laiho’s vocal style hasn’t changed since the previous album, he is still using the melodeath-esque semi-growls. Luckily the unimaginative filler phrases such as swear words and shouts of “yauuu!!” have been kept to a bare minimum. Morrigan is a catchy song in which the keyboards enter the spotlight offering a strong contrast to the harsh vocals. For those who prefer something a little heavier, more aggressive and more guitar-driven, then Horns will not disappoint. That track sounds like it was written with the mosh-pit in mind and personally I can’t wait to hear it live.

The title track acts as a showpiece, demonstrating all the things that make Children of Bodom so unique. It’s all here: the ultra-fast, power metal style keyboards, furious guitar riffs, the aggressive drum work and of course Laiho’s relentless vocals. Another track that caught my attention is the melodic All For Nothing, which sees a dramatic change to a slower and somewhat “softer” pace in both the instruments as well as Alexi Laiho’s vocals. It sounds like he is whispering at the start and shrieking rather than growling as the song progresses.

In summary I have really enjoyed this album. It’s rare for a band that has been around for many years to re-invent themselves and come up with something memorable. Just like its predecessor, ‘I Worship Chaos’ marks another step in the right direction. So, for those who hated their weaker albums such ‘Blooddrunk’ but now want to give the band another chance to redeem themselves, you should definitely check out ‘I Worship Chaos’.

4/5

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 23rd September 2015 at 10:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Children of Bodom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.