Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll

Four albums in and still whacked on speed, Finnish five-piece Children Of Bodom continue with its highly entertaining, giddy, pogo-stick metal on Hate Crew Deathroll. Attitude-wise, Cob has become the Manowar of melodic death metal, willfully leaping off the cliff of over-the-top metaldom (not unlike Swedish supergroup Witchery) -- which is refreshing, considering the poker-faced seriousness of most acts in the genre, and here, main Bodom-ite Alexi "wildchild" Laiho keeps his tongue firmly in cheek while tearing through squirrelly cuts such as "Triple Corpse Hammerblow" and "Lil' Bloodred Ridin' Hood." Like its predecessor, Follow The Reaper, Hate Crew finds Laiho firing off frantic speed metal riffs and technical, shred-heavy solos alongside humorously irritating prog/horror movie keyboards; this time, however, he has tightened up the arrangements (most songs clock in under four minutes) and significantly improved the enunciation of his vocal screech, making for a lean, mean, and infectious listen. Read More