Blooddrunk

I've loved Children of Bodom for years, I even defended Are You Dead Yet? because it still caught my attention and gave me hope of a comeback. This album has pretty much put the last nail in the coffin for me. I'll just a quick rundown on a few of the songs that make this release from a once incredible band a terrible turn down the wrong path.

Hellbounds On My Trails: The song kicks off with Alexi doing a really fast but upbeat kind of trem picking riff and then uses the same rhythm and momentum to go in to a simpler version of the riff. Normally I'd have no problem with this but there is almost no riff variation from there for about 2 minutes. There is a "chorus" in there somewhere but it was so weak almost didn't even notice the difference. The solo is good as Alexi usually delivers but is way too short. Same goes with Janne as his key solo is more of a fill than anything. It's like they've decided to completely throw out the idea of developing anything and are doing just what every other band out there is and finding a "cool" riff, sitting on it for 4 minutes and calling it a song.

Blooddrunk: Being the title track you'd think it would be somewhat decent right? Wrong. Again they just sit on the same riff for about 4 minutes and don't go anywhere. The solo is actually very good in this song (again short though) which is one redeeming factor. Also for a few seconds the keys do kick in and stray a little from the guitar.

One Day You Will Cry: I am sorry to say but it really does sound like Angels Don't Kill. The intro synth work is EXACTLY the same. Its got about the same song structure as well. this song disappointed me because they aren't just doing tried methods now, they're ripping themselves off. I did like the solos in this song however.

Basically this whole album is a bunch of tried methods and a collection of "cool" riffs. Where did the melodies go? Janne must have stopped writing or something because he strayed from the guitar line maybe three times in the album excluding solos. Its as if Alexi has decided to stop playing melodically entirely and just decided to play what all the teeny-boppers will bang their heads to. All of the riffs on the album are just fast-paced bang your head riffs, which there is nothing wrong with necessarily but it is NOT what I expect from CoB. I believe this band has already turned their heads down the path of money-making, popularity machine and waved goodbye to anything they used to be known for. I give this a 29 because at least the soloing is still there.