I learned a valuable lesson, don't underestimate Children Of Bodom. Despite Children Of Bodom being one of my favorite bands, my expectations for Relentless Reckless Forever were really low. Coming off their middling last effort Bloodrunk and the awful first single "Was It Worth It?", I had pretty much written off Relentless Reckless Forever. Let's just say, I fucked up big time. Relentless Reckless Forever is a damn fine record.
Children Of Bodom doesn't waste any time silencing their critics(myself included). Album opener "Not My Funeral" is a blast of the vintage Children Of Bodom sound that got in lost in the fold on Blooddrunk. "Not My Funeral" is a face-melter of an opener. I spent the entire duration of the track thinking "Holy shit! Children Of Bodom is back." "Not My Funeral" is just the beginning of the sheer feeling of pleasant surprise that I felt while listening to Relentless Reckless Forever. Most of the albums moves at a blistering pace(especially the under 3 minute blast of pure speed that is album closer "Northpole Throwdown") with Alexi Laiho's mesmerizing guitar playing mixed with the always delightful keyboard work from Janne Wirman. The guitar/keyboard interplay is one of the main reasons Children Of Bodom's sound is so effective and it was what the last two records were severely lacking. It's not really Children Of Bodom without the crazy and incredibly impressive duel soloing and Relentless Reckless Forever brings it back.
Another things that impressed me about Relentless Reckless Forever was the resurgence of Alexi Laiho's vocals. On Blooddrunk, he sounded like shit. On Relentless Reckless Forever, he sounds far better and healthier. In a recent interview I read, he was discussing his cutdown in drinking and partying. I think this was a great choice. Years of hard partying was taking a severe toll on his music and his cutdown pays dividends on this album.
Relentless Reckless Forever eviscerated my expectations. Outside of the fucking horrible "Was It Worth It?", Children Of Bodom really made the grade on this record. Children Of Bodom's return to the sound of their earlier records was a spectacular choice. The earlier albums were easily the best of their career and are the reason Children Of Bodom is one of my favorite bands. Relentless Reckless Forever is a return to form for Children Of Bodom. Although it's not quite up to the quality of their first four albums, it's a fucking killer throwback to the glory days of the band.
4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Not My Funeral
2.Northpole Throwdown
3.Roundtrip To Hell and Back
No comments:
Post a Comment