Children Of Bodom's Reviews
Hate Crew Deathroll (Average Rating: 9.18 out of 10)
Thrashy, but still original! (Rated this album with 8 out of 10)
Reviewed by
Matt Stoessel
from Tolland, CT USA
To start things off, I purchased the version of Hate Crew Deathroll with the cover of the Slayer song, "Silent Scream", at the end. (You CAN find it on amazon - you just have to look a bit harder.) The beginning of the first song sounds just like the beginning of Silent Scream. Also, that cover is perhaps my favorite on the album. I don't know why, but I get into it much more than even my 2nd favorite, "Bodom Beach Terror". The next thing I need to discuss is the albums thrashness. Its rough, and sounds a bit like the Testament album I have, The Gathering, in that way. This is almost melodic thrash with death vocals - not death metal with thrash influences. Don't forget - what makes Children of Bodom stand out so much from the other death metal bands is the perfectly blended keyboards of Janne Warmen. They are still here, and are as powerful as ever. Don't expect a song like Downfall, but if you can stand thrash and are a death metal fan (or keyboard fan), this album is indeed a must-have. Other than the thrashiness, this album sounds just like Follow the Reaper. If there was any major change in the band, I'm unaware of it. Song by song, this is still a great album. If you look back to Hatebreeder, there were no weak points on the album. Children of Bodom maintained that ability while changing to a thrashy sound. The opener, Needled 24/7, actually sounds like a normal (or "older") Children of Bodom song. Then comes the 2nd song... this is VERY thrashy, but gets quite melodic. The 3rd song is a typical above average song for me. I don't listen to the album enough to tell you about this one. Bodom Beach Terror (track 4) is the one that made me get the album. The drumming intro is so cool! Past that, its not much of a special song, but it is by no means a bad song, or "filler", if you will. Tracks 5, 6, 8, and 9 all have soft keyboard intros, but are typical thrashy death metal songs. The only reason I didn't put track 7 on that list is because of the heavy intro. Is it a bad song? Nope - just different than 5, 6, 8, and 9. 9 is the title track. It opens similarly to Downfall (my favorite Children of Bodom song) and is among my favorites on the album. I've never paid much attention to the lyrics of Children of Bodom, but when I read the ones they print in the booklet, I'll say that this isn't THAT different from Something Wild, Hatebreeder, and Follow the Reaper. People have said that Something Wild is Children of Bodom's heaviest album. Well, this isn't a heavier or faster album - its just thrashy. You have to know thrash metal to know what a thrashy sound it. For thrash, look at Slayer, Megadeth, Pantera, or Testament. Those are the ones I recommend. (Metallica was closer to power metal than thrash in my opinion.) I reviewed Hatebreeder yesterday, if you're interested. I'd recommend that album over Hate Crew Deathroll, but both are very good. Any fan of death metal really should own EVERY Children of Bodom album. Having that many albums by one band is usually boring and gets repetitive, but its worth it when every song is so different and good in its own way. If you're curious, the only other bands I would recommend doing this with are Stratovarius and Nightwish.(...).
Buy this album on Amazon at $14.99
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