News |

Guitar World Column |

Interviews |

Pictures |

Album Reviews |

Gig Reviews |

Release Dates |

History |

Articles |

Setlists |

Upcoming |

Contact

Track Listing: Not My Funeral Shovel Knockout Roundtrip to Hell and Back Pussyfoot Miss Suicide Relentless, Reckless Forever Ugly Cry of the Nihilist Was It Worth It? Northpole Throwdown

From the first second of listening to Children of Bodom's newest album, "Relentless Reckless Forever" I could immediately tell that the album would be completely lackluster and contrived. The beginning track "Not My Funeral," sounds like more of a Blooddrunk b-side than a new Bodom track. The mix is absolutely terrible, and the overall musicianship, while incredibly technical, is bland and at times incoherent. This track seems forced; like it was a struggle for the band to write and record it. Luckily, the band really had the melodic factor working for them.

The next track, "Shovel Knockout" is a bit better than the first, and sounds like there was a good amount of thought put into it. Unfortunately, the guitar tones sound incredibly weak, and again, the mix is god-awful. The great thing about this track is that it is reminiscent of the band's earlier work, Hatebreeder. The melodies and riffs scream classic Bodom. The solos on this track are, again, reminiscent of older Bodom, and add a nice dash of the band's past into an otherwise boring and uninteresting track.

The album really picks up with the track "Roundtrip to Hell and Back." This track is more symphonic than the prior two, and the riffs, while seemingly boring at first, really keep everything held together. Alexi and Roope's guitar work on this track is incredible. Unfortunately, the bass is barely there, and the drums seemed to be the lowest priority in the mix. Aside from the production, this is an incredible track and has given me faith for the rest of this album.

With the exception of the first two tracks, "Relentless Reckless Forever" is a very solid and respectable album from a great band. Tracks like "Pussyfoot Miss Suicide" and "Cry of the Nihilist" have reaffirmed my faith in Children of Bodom. My only problem with this album is the mix. The tracks aren't as clear as they should be, and when you have a lot going on in a song (keyboards, etc.) it makes for an unpleasant listening experience. Other than that, "Relentless Reckless Forever" is a decent album, definitely worthy of purchase.

Children of Bodom have grown as a band from an underground entity to one of the most popular bands of the metal genre in the past decade. With albums like Follow the Reaper, it is difficult to not love them but they had started slipping recently. While I enjoyed the band's 2005 effort, Are You Dead Yet? many did not. I was thoroughly disappointed with Blooddrunk. I didn't know what to expect when I was about to listen to their latest effort. I am ecstatic to say that Laiho and company are back. Let me rephrase that. CHILDREN OF BODOM ARE FUCKING BACK!

From the intro riff to Not My Funeral to the final scream on Northpole Throwdown, the band has created a near perfect metal album. This album gets better with each listen. I found myself enjoying each song more. It is also evident that Alexi has found that perfect balance of the melodies that made songs like Hate Me! And Needled 24x7 and the heavier elements in their last 2 albums to create something that will stand the test of time as one of the greater metal albums of the last few years. When they released the album artwork and track list for this album a while ago I was really disappointed with the artwork. However for some reason the tracks Shovel Knockout and Northpole Throwdown reminded me of something you would have seen on the earlier CoB albums. I had high expectations for these songs and they did not disappoint. Shovel Knockout is my favourite song on this album. It begins with thundering bass and a guitar scratch slide that gives you that homely feeling you get on the older Bodom albums. Janne really showcases his synth skills on the track Cry Of The Nihilist. This album will please both fans of the earlier material and fans of the recent heavier material as it has a perfect balance of both. As usual the single is the weakest track on the album and I strongly recommend listening to this album a few times with headphones to absorb it completely.

The only negative thing I can say for this release is the lacklustre drumming. The keys and guitars shine throughout the album but the drums are nothing to write home about. Aside from that I applaud the band for putting forth a brilliant metal album that will keep all the fans happy for a long time and will silence the detractors.

I've been a huge Children Of Bodom fan for quite a few years now, and every time a new album is about to be released, it's exciting to say the least. When Blooddrunk was released in 2008, that pre-release excitement didn't quite translate to satisfaction, so I was waiting for this particular release, their seventh studio album "Relentless Reckless Forever", with an anticipation greater than ever before.

The opening track "Not My Funeral" attempts to capture the classic Bodom vibe, and has traces of the Follow The Reaper sound so to speak, but ends up as a tune that's neither heavy nor fast. "Shovel Knockout" is a much better tune and features some nicely crafted guitar-keyboard harmonies, a signature aspect of Bodom's music that should be utilized by them as much as they possibly can.

But sadly the album fizzes out rapidly after that, with tracks like "Roundtrip To Hell And Back", "Pussyfoot Miss Suicide", the title song, and "Ugly" sounding incredibly generic and toothless. "Cry Of The Nihilist" rescues it to an extent with more of that keyboard-guitar duel I was talking about. "Was It Worth It?" on the other hand, is a track that isn't an instant classic to start out with, but can grow on the listener. The album ends with "Northpole Throwdown", which is more along the lines of what I expected from this album and quite simply, needs to be in their set when they come around touring in support of this album.

Overall, I am quite disappointed with this album, and I can't help but get a feeling that Alexi and co have become lazy with their song writing. This isn't the classic Bodom I fell in love with, and I can only hope for better things in albums to come. Nonetheless, "Shovel Knockout" and "Northpole Throwdown" are great tunes, and a couple others might grow on me.

A huge letdown.