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Children of Bodom - Follow the Reaper
- Legendary British Metal band Motorhead has, seemingly, forged a new identity for itself. The band has become a Finnish five-piece with a heretofore uncharacteristic keyboardist and, they have adopted a new moniker: Children of Bodom.
A Finnish death metal group, Bodom maintains the high standards of intricate, thrashing metal laid out by earlier bands such as Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne and, of course, Motorhead. With their screamed vocals, intense guitar work and driving rhythm section, Bodom is an able successor to the legacy of earlier metal bands, never failing to pay homage to their influences while consistently raising the bar on the rage in their lyrics and the heaviness of their music.
"Follow the Reaper," the band's third album, finds Bodom in top form. The guitars and singer Alexi Laiho's guttural vocals rock harder than weapons-grade uranium, lending convincing voice to sentiments found in songs like "Hate Me!," which seems to be Bodom's, and almost every metal band's before or since, attitude toward critics: "I don't give a f--- if you hate me!" The real strength of "Reaper," though, is the contributions provided by keyboardist Janne Warman. His work on the album gives each song an element of texture and adds melody necessary to differentiate one chugging guitar-dominated track from the next.
If there is one core weakness to "Reaper," it is the repetitive nature of the majority of the songs. Early tracks like "Bodom After Midnight" and "Children of Decadence" feature catchy hooks and arena-ready choruses, but most of the other songs fail to distinguish themselves. Once you hear one thrash-saturated riff paired with a set of growling lyrics, you've pretty much heard the other eight tunes the album has to offer.
Reviewer: Adam Rowan
new
Reviewer's Rating: 6
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 22-Jun-2009
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