Relentless Reckless Forever

Here is a run-down of Bodom's new album:

Track 1) Not My Funeral: whether intentionally or not, the album kicks off with a riff almost identical to that which kicked off 1999's Follow The Reaper (the band's masterpiece, in my opinion.) It's a very strong opening track, with an excellent chorus (tasteful use of solo guitar to complement the words) and a solo quite reminiscent of the brilliant solo towards the end of Hate Me. This opening track is tuneful, brilliantly played, with a lot of variety. Interesting from first note to last, never dull, nothing repeated. It also, in my opinion, summarises what sets this band apart from many others: their albums may be short, and always contain only 9 songs, but at their best they manage to pack more musical ideas into a single track than most groups manage in an entire album.

Track 2) Shovel Knockout. A lot going on in this song, which begins with a rumbling bass line. Again, many musical ideas, a lot of creative energy. The first half is not as effective as the 2nd. The first part of the song (the first minute or so) is fast and shouty, not especially catchy. But then the kyboards and the chorus kick in, and it becomes an album highlight, Bodom at their best. An excellent solo, and good unison lines at the end. Very technical musicianship.

Track 3) Roundtrip To Hell and Back. The best song on the album, a masterpiece from first note to last. Not only one of their best ever songs, but one of the best metal songs of all time. If it is comparable to anything, it would probably be Every Time I Die, from Follow The Reaper. Similar pace and structure. What elevates this track to the pantheon of exceptional Bodom tracks is the keyboards. The solo is the end is sublime and fits perfectly with what has gone before. Alexi deservedly gets so many plaudits, but Janne is a vastly under-rated component of this group.

Track 4) Pussyfoot Miss Suicide. Sad to say, quite a forgettable track, one of the weakest on the album. Excellent musicianship of course, but it's just a straight-forward thrash-fest. Impressive soloing from Alexi and Janne, but it lacks melody and never really holds the interest. Fans of Slayer will like this song, but I didn't, because what I value in Bodom (what makes them unique) is their meshing of classical structures and textures with speed and energy. This song has plenty of speed, but little invention. It sounds like something which was left off Blooddrunk. 4 minutes of very well-played noise.

Track 5) Relentless Reckless Forever: 2nd best song on the album, opening with 3 simple ear-shattering blasts of pure metal but ten getting very complex very soon. Great melodies, good keyboards, and very original music. This, again, is the kind of song which Bodom produce every once in a while which sounds like it was written in a moment of white-hot inspiration (as almost all of their first 3 albums sounded), rather than because they had made a decision to sit down and make another album. It sounds like a bunch of guys with almost supernatural skill, who adore the kind of music they play, letting the creative instinct flow. A wonderful track, with a spine-chilling chorus.

Track 6) Ugly. Special mention in this song goes to Alexi's solo, which is brilliantly-written, tasteful, suits the song perfectly, and needless to say is artfully played. A very strong track, following the trsusted Bodom structure of riff - chorus - solo - riff - chorus - guitar solo - keyboard solo - unison - coda. One of the fastest tracks on the album. Riff reminded me a little of the song Are You Dead Yet. Lovely chorus.

Track 7) Cry of the Nihilist. A pleasing nod to the classically inspired solos which defined their first 3 or 4 albums. The music here (as opposed to Pussyfoot Miss Suicide) is thoughtful and melodic, not just aimless, lightning-fast shredding. A good, complex riff, good use of keyboards. Some odd vocal effects, it seems to me, but this isn't too distracting, because I don't really listen to Bodom for the singing or the lyrics.

Track 8) Was It Worth It? Never before has a Bodom track divided opinion as much as this one. I guess everyone reading this has already heard it, since is has been available on Youtube for a month or so. Personally I like this song very much, I think it has a great riff and a wonderful chorus. The guitar solo is perhaps unusual, but overall listening to this is a very pleasant way to spend 4 minutes.

Track 9) Northpole Throwdown. The fastest and shortest song on the album. I'm not too keen on it to be honest, I'm not sure what they were doing here other than seeing how fast they could play. It reminds me of the end of Slayer's Reign in Blood album. Flat-out, break-neck speed, not very melodic and not many interesting musical ideas. Sure, it has mind-blowing musicianship, but so do a lot of bands. It lacks the Bodom touch, that unique blend of gorgeous harmonies, textures, skill, and original composition. Bodom have usually finished albums brilliantly (Downfall, Kissing The Shadows, We're Not Gonna Fall...), but this doesn't really do it for me. Too thrashy.

And there you have it, my take on Bodom's latest album. Where does it stand in the context of the rest of their catalogue? Well, to give an idea of how fanatic I am of this group I actually stepped across the border from my native country to Poland to pick up a copy, where it was released early. I have spent all weekend listening to it over and over again, so this isn't a knee-jerk reaction. I'd say this is my 2nd favourite album after Follow The Reaper.

It contains 2 tracks which are up there with the best music ever written in the metal genre (I can't be bothered to get involved in the tedious debate over which sub-genre they belong to; it's all metal to me):

Roundtrip To Hell and Back
Relentless Reckless Forever

It contains a collection of songs which are excellent examples of intelligent, tasteful, energetic, soulful, technical and passionate musicianship:

Not My funeral
Ugly
Cry of the Nihilist
Was It Worth It?
Shovel Knockout

And 2 not-so-strong songs, but still outstanding by any other band's standards:

Pussyfoot Miss Suicide
Northpole Throwdown

My unequivocal recommendation is to buy this album because when these 5 guys are on form there is really nobody else that I know of who can match them for natural talent and musical ability. As a parting note, and on the off-chance any of the Bodom guys are reading this, thank you to you all for producing music which makes my life better. See you on tour.

Relentless Reckless Forever, is the best Children of Bodom album up to date. Hearing them going back to their 'old stuff' is amazing! From its great opening song Not My Funeral, to the second to last closing song Was It Worth It?, gets all Children of Bodom fans up and ready for more. I completely recommend Relentless Reckless Forever for all Children of Bodom fans, and for people who want to try them out.

* This review was written by my daughter, as I bought the CD for her.

Children of Bodom haven't had it easy in recent years. After wowing the metal world with their first few offerings, COB became the band everybody loves to hate after their recent albums saw a move away from their signiture neoclassical/melodic/power/black sound towards a more mainstream groove-metal orientated style. That this has coincided with the bands increasing popularity stateside has caused many to dub the band as 'sell-outs' and the old 'i liked them before they were popular' pretention has never been applied more liberally. So, with so many calling Relentless Reckless Forever COB's return to their glory days, I had to check it out.

So just how is RRF? Well, funnily enough, I wouldn't call this the return to the style of Hatebreeder/follow The Reaper I've read about on the internet. The neoclassical melodies of those albums are nowhere to be found, and RRF retains many modern elements that Bodom brought in on Are You Dead Yet and Blooddrunk. But is this a bad album? HELL NO! this is, for me, the most enjoyable Bodom album since Hate Crew, and while it's not the rebirth of their original sound, it is a return to the high quality of music we used to expect from the band. More importanly, the melodic aspect of the band, particularly the power metal melody, makes a welcome return to the fold. Subsequently, RRF is a far more engaging and memorable offering then Are You Dead Yet or Blooddrunk (which wern't that bad, were they? oh, maybe Blooddrunk was)

Yup, the melodies are back and RRF rocks hard! While Not My Funeral might not be the most explosive opener the band has produced, it sets the tone nicely with some great melodic riffing, nice keys and tasty anthemic chorus. Shovel Knockout sees heavier riffing and a slower pace, more in line with newer Bodom material, yet the rediscovered melodies carry the song through. However, RRF reall gets going with Round Trip to Hell and Back, an absolute highlight of the album which reminds me a lot of Every Time I Die and Angels Don't Kill. From their on out it's all good, with other stand outs being the ultra-technical riffing of Ugly and Northpole Throwdown and the pendulum grooves of Was It Worth It. The band also throws in some classic rock influences at times, such as the southern swing of Pussfoot Mass Suicide, while the chorus riffing of Cry of the Nihilist brings back memories of Thin Lizzy. But, overall, the quality of the album is much higher then their last two, especially in terms of guitar riffs and harmonies, and now that Alexi and co have remembered how important melodies are to their music, the blandness of BloodDrunk is all but a distant memory! The only thing that's really missing from RRF is the speed and aggression of earlier works, but then again the riffing and the keys are so could i can kinda forgive them. I do find myself wishing the drumming was a bit more furious at times though...

RRF might not be as good as Hatebreeder or Follow the Reaper, and it's probably not good enough for all the pretentious Bodom-haters out there. However, I haven't had as much fun listening to a new a Bodom album this much since Hate Crew, and by bringing back the anthemic power metal element of their music the Bodom lads not only reignited the compelling power of their music but also my interest in the band. Thanks Bodom!