Sick Axe Attacks~Definitely pick up

Holy crap, the first time I heard this I just about wet myself. Okay, seriously though, Alexi is SICK. His innovativeness rivals that of Iommi, merely for the simple fact that NOBODY has done that before, nor sounds anything like him. You can clearly hear his roots are from listening to old school (real) metal like Maiden and Priest, and obviously, classical. HOLY CRAP. Deadnight Warrior, hands down, best song on the disc. Great opening track. Pick this up, you will buy every COB CD afterwards. I did. I started with Hatebreeder (Killer CD), got this one, then the other two. You won't be disappointed.

The beginning of Bodom

Children of Bodom's debut release is far more melodic death metal than anything they would release later. Although the phrase commonly used to describe them is melodic death, without the harsh vocals delivered by Alexi Laiho they are closer to power or speed metal. This album however is closer to death metal than their others, and there are also tinges of black metal such as on In The Shadows. This isn't as good as the two that would follow it, Hatebreeder and Follow The Reaper, their sound is less refined and developed, but there are still some great songs. Laiho's rasping vocals fit the music perfectly even though his guitar work isn't as prominent as on later releases, and there is more classical influence here. Red Light In My Eyes part 2 takes some of its tune from Mozart's Symphony no. 25.



The first two tracks are good, but it's the two Red Light In My Eyes songs that really hold your attention. The intro to the first part is great and it contains some parts you can really hum along to, and the second part is no less good, the Mozart tune opens the track and it also contains some memorable parts. As a double act the two songs are great and fit together well, and once the second part ends another of the best songs on the album begins, Lake Bodom. The fantasy/power metal style beginning draws you in and it contains probably the best guitar solo on the CD, COB's later albums are made up of tracks similar to this one. The Nail contains an intro speech from Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and it's another solid track, the longest here, and Touch Like Angel of Death rounds things off, it's another headbanging frenzy with more classical-inspired keyboards. The album is short in length, but what's here is great, only just behind the next two they would release and worthy of five stars.



Stand-outs: Red Light In My Eyes 1+2, Lake Bodom, The Nail

The Influences of Evil

Alexi Laiho is a genius. Simple as that. While this album is cruder in many ways than "Hatebreeder," "Something Wild" has that fresh-from-the-mill feeling about it. After the release of Wild, CoB has slightly altered their sound, improving upon it and trying new varieties of riff crunching. Therefore, like with any longtime band, it is interesting to listen to their first album.



Wild suffers from a curious syndrome that even Laiho has admitted: each song crams in as many different riffs as possible. The tracks are drastically different from the standard formula, then, which keeps it fresh in some ways. In another way, though, it's extremely difficult to remember what song sounds like what. One slight error resulting from this can be found in the Red Light in my Eyes tracks. Part 1 and Part 2 have nothing to do with each other musically. Thematically, of course, they're about the Bodom killer, but then so is much of the album. A similar musical motif would have made more of a connection there.



Even with their first album, Children of Bodom have found their niche. All the experimentation with sounds and voice-styles were probably figured out long before CoB (then known as Inearthed) even signed a contract. That said, I sure hope they title a track Inearthed in the future!



I would like to add that the product advertised is not necessarily what you may receive. I ended up with the Deluxe Edition, which is fine, but the cover image is shrunk a little and the extras include silly pictures and wallpapers that you can get off the Internet anyway.