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The synthesizers tend to be a little more diverse on "Follow the Reaper," both in terms of tones used and the sorts of harmonies played. Children of Bodom have moved slightly away from the strictly baroque approach of their first two albums into traditional progressive and melodic metal territory - "Bodom after Midnight" is a good example of this trend. But the way Children of Bodom combines these elements is certainly UNtraditional. This is pretty much breakneck, Dionysian music for those moments when you just want to jump up and air-guitar madly until out of breath.

I have to note that the lyrics are basically terrible. Children of Bodom have never been known for their poetic expertise, but "Follow the Reaper" sets new lows with random profanity and cliches about how great alcohol and suicide are. I doubt the band takes these lyrics seriously - in interviews they tend to see themselves just as over-the-top entertainers. Some will not be so entertained.

Overall, I would rate this album slightly below "Hatebreeder," but it still makes my "top ten metal albums of 2000" list. There are slightly fewer great musical moments, and as mentioned, the lyrics are worse. These best parts of this album, in my view, are the extended guitar-synth harmonies, as found on songs like the title track and "Children of Decadence."


Holy [heck], get yer mitts on this NOW!   May 27, 2001
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I'll admit, this is my first foray into the realm of the Gothenburg/Nordic melodic death and/or black metal sound that's all the rage these days with satanists worldwide.

One word to describe my feelings: THANK GOD I BOUGHT THIS. Okay, that's 5 words, but you get my point. I was so worried about getting past the vocal growling that often overshadows this amazing genre of music that I nearly shot myself in the foot before giving the entire disc a listen. I think it took roughly 13 seconds of the first track before I was hooked. By the time the pulsating, driving riffing and keyboard work on "Children of Bodom," I had an early entry (for me) for best album purchased this year.

Do yourself a favor, don't bypass this just because you're afraid of black/death metal like I almost did. Is this even black/death metal? I have my doubts. It's more like Jericho/Keeper era Helloween mixed with Saga/Asia style keyboard work mixed with well, guttural screaming vocals. I'm sure there's some purists out there who are experiencing rising blood pressure at my amateur analysis, but that works for me. I was shocked that something this hard, this BRUTAL could be so instantly hummable. I've had numerous songs going through my brain like a 5,000 mph sledgehammer all day long, causing more than one person to look at me strangely, let me tell you.

Alright, enough of me. Just get all this!


If In Flames are Iron Maiden on acid...   June 29, 2001
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

... Fans of Opeth, Cradle Of Filth and/or In Flames who think that those bands are brutal yet melodic, Children Of Bodom (while not sounding like any of those bands) are the kings of mixing elegance and beauty with sheer brutality. My only complaints are that "Every Time I Die" falls below the standard of the others (but considering how great they were it's not that bad - oddly enough the 2 guitarists think it's the best song they've written!) and that the lyrics are bad. Other than that, an almost perfect album.

They also have a sound that makes me hesitate to call them death metal (albeit melodic death) or black. It's more like 80s power metal (incidentally, done well without the cheese) but faster, heavier and with aggressive vocals. It also has keyboard solos (I think that's a first for a death band) and influences ranging from nu-glam and electro-pop to neo-classical music, as well as the likes of black metal such as Dimmu Borgir (who don't have keyboard solos but still have very prominent synths like Bodom) and power metal like Blind Guardian. Sound a bit dogdy to you? Probably. Put off? Don't be. Describing this would probably make it sound bad but beleive me when I say that this is an absolutely great album.

Not only is this my new favourite album, it's also the first black/death metal album to get full marks (although I think Cradle's "Cruelty And The Beast" and Satyricon's "Dark Medieval Times" deserve full marks as well - I was in a stingy mood). What we have here is an album that is original (how often can you say that about a black metal band?), intelligent and ALMOST perfect. I can't recommend it enough. The best songs include "Follow The Reaper" and "Mask Of Sanity".