It has been 3 years since the release of 2008’s Blooddrunk by Finland’s Children of Bodom. While I was not the biggest fan of Blooddrunk, it did have some nice tracks on it, and overall, it was still a solid release that would have been massive for any other band outside of Children of Bodom.
Children of Bodom has their own unique sound that not many can duplicate. They are definitely on the technical side of the Melodic Death Metal subgenre of metal and make heavy usage of keyboards in their music. While I am not a big fan of keyboards in metal, Children of Bodom has always had a very nice mix with their songs. Of course, Alexi Laiho is simply an exceptional guitar player that is very underrated by many metal fans.
With the release of Relentless Reckless Forever, I was licking my chops to hear some of these new songs. A few had leaked early, but I finally got my hands on the full CD. From the outset, I was not overwhelmed with the opening track, Not My Funeral. It had the typical Children of Bodom sound, but did not have much that made it stand out from the crowd of what has now become a whole lot of Children of Bodom songs. Sure, there were great vocals and a few nice riffs, but it did kind of sound like the same old Children of Bodom song that we have all heard.
The second track on the album, Shovel Knockout, definitely made me take notice. From the opening bass riff to the intricate guitar work that comes in to the all-out onslaught which follows, I could tell that Shovel Knockout was going to be a standout. This is a very fast-paced vocal melody for the verse, which ended up becoming more melodic. There are some great lead fills and the solo is a knockout, especially the end of the solo before coming back into the song.
Pussyfoot Miss Suicide opens up with one of the best riffs that I have heard in a long time. The song of littered with some amazing riffs, although it is a song that seems a little disjointed. I wish that it was a little more standard and just followed the great groove that they had going on with the opening riff. Overall, it is a very solid song though.
Relentless Reckless Forever is a track that has a ton of solid riffs as well. The chorus is just pure power with a ton going on, but it just sounds right. The strength of this track lies within the riffs though. The same can be said for the song Ugly as well.
From a few listens, I am really liking Relentless Reckless Forever right now and I have a feeling I will rank this one up there pretty high on my lists of favorite Children of Bodom albums. There are a ton of amazing riffs on this release, which I think was the problem with their previous effort.
Relentless Reckless Forever Tracklist
1. Not My Funeral
2. Shovel Knockout
3. Roundtrip To Hell And Back
4. Pussyfoot Miss Suicide
5. Relentless Reckless Forever
6. Ugly (Download)
7. Cry Of The Nihilist
8. Was It Worth It?
9. Northpole Throwdown
Children of Bodom Lineup
Alexi “Wildchild” Laiho – Vocals, Guitar
Roope Latvala – Guitar
Janne “Warman” Wirman – Keyboards
Henkka T. “Blacksmith” Seppälä – Bass
Jaska W. Raatikainen – Drums
Children of Bodom will release its new album, “Relentless Reckless Forever”, on March 8, 2011 via Universal Music. Recorded in Finland’s Petrax Studios with famed rock producer Matt Hyde (Slayer, Monster Magnet), the CD is the seventh studio album of COB’s illustrious career and the first new record from the band since 2008’s “Blooddrunk”.