Children of Bodom - I Worship Chaos

Finnish melodeath masters release their latest - and Death is on the cover! Spoooooky.Though I've heard of Children of Bodom - sure, even seen them in concert - I can't say I could identify a COB song despite their worldwide popularity. But I do dig the Finnish melodic death metal stuff and Alexi Laiho is revered as one of today's best shredders so you'd think I'd be all over it. Which brings us to their latest studio album, I Worship Chaos.

From the get go this is pretty standard fare for the genre. I Hurt is energetic, heavy and fast with Alexi Laiho taking over guitaring chores in leiu of erstwhile member Roope Latvala. With the band working as a four piece on this album Alexi has stated that things were a little easier in terms of recording, with him being able to perfectly match his playing rhythym for any additional tracks, and it does sound air tight. But to be honest, I would never have known that this was formerly a quintet, and the production feels appropriate for what you'd expect from this kind of band. While I enjoy the music, it all kind of runs together after a while, which I've heard is a common complaint. Prayer For The Afflicted is one of the few tracks that veers from the formula, sounding like a dirge - almost treading into doom metal territory. By the second half of the album I started getting into it, with Suicide Bomber's slidey intro catching my ear before the heavy churn of the verse. All For Nothing's moody intro provided a nice counterpoint as well, making me think that more of this dynamic interplay would serve the overall sound better. By the time Widdershins rolled around I was changing my mind about this being a one trick pony of an album. This is what I'd like to think of as the COB sound.

The Bottom Line: This is clearly a modern melodic death metal band and album. The production is serviceable, though I think more definition between the vocals and the rhythym guitars would help dispel the idea that all of COB's songs sound the same.The talent's there for the right superstar producer to unearth.

- Genghis wouldn't mind having Alexi's guitar chops, no sir...