Follow the Reaper

At the end of the day, Follow the Reaper is the album most of us end up returning to when pining for a Children of Bodom fix. After over a decade of drama originally spawned by the underrated expansion on Hate Crew Deathroll that is Are You Dead Yet?, this is the one album whose melodic carapace has yet to be penetrated by the ire of the naysayers. After the raw, unfocused yet endearing spasticity of the first two albums, a huge turn was made here; one that altered the melodic death climate in ways still being felt to this day. Without a doubt the band's most melodic album, Follow the Reaper rockets out of the gates from the first few notes and delivers quality on such a scale that one would be hard pressed to find entire albums that contain as much melodic majesty as just one of these tunes, be it the breathtaking technicality of "Kissing the Shadows" or the more atmospheric, resplendent drawl of "Everytime I Die."

This quality exhibits Children of Bodom at the top of their game musically. Wirman's approach here mirrors certain aspects of Hatebreeder, but the neoclassical slant that was so heavily emphasized earlier on is largely eschewed in favour of more standard, albeit no less complex, scale runs and thrashing, speedy riffs. The rhythm guitar surges with effervescent gusto, doing much more than mere space-filling. A good example would be the verses of "Mask of Sanity," specifically the part ganked from the earlier Inearthed tune "Talking of the Trees." I've heard complaints that the second half of the record drags somewhat before ending on a stratospheric high note with "Kissing the Shadows." An argument is repeatedly made against "Taste of My Scythe" and especially "Northern Comfort." The latter is the song that I hear mentioned the least, but the breakdown about two and a half minutes in is an isolated album highlight. "Taste of My Scythe" feels darker, making it a fine companion to "Everytime I Die." A lack of melodic lines as distinctive as the majority of the album kneecaps it somewhat, but we are truly splitting hairs at this point.

Laiho's ungodly rasp is in its best form here, and he still attempts the deeper "singing" style that was most prevalent on Something Wild. The more variety the better, and the aggression is translated affably. I was personally more fond of Wirman's soloing on Hate Crew Deathroll, but the more symphonic, power metal style he uses kicks ass here. The opening of "Mask of Sanity" will resonate into melodeath eternity. "Everytime I Die" is another stone-cold classic, and the archetypical Children of Bodom slower tune, introducing a formula that has appeared on every album since. These more mid-paced, palatial songs are always album highlights, since the band truly excels when the atmosphere is accentuated as opposed to raw technicality. Laiho has always been comically fond of pinch harmonics, but here it is taken to an extreme never replicated before. His songwriting feels more focused, siphoning the formula down to its bare essentials, and then accentuated to the hyperbolic extreme these guys are known for. The manic charisma of "Kissing the Shadows" is ironic, since the song was slapped together at the eleventh hour in the studio. It bounces off of the walls like the title track, as both are struck from a similar mold.

Even the cover songs are the band's best, albeit at a time before they chose stupid shit just to get a rise. "Shot in the Dark" lends itself to Children of Bodom's style more, but "Don't Stop at the Top" is a surprisingly effective translation, which does the original justice in my eyes. Production values are heightened from the first two, albeit somewhat lacking in the concussive strength of Are You Dead Yet? and such. The persistent coupling of guitar and keyboard leads are emphasized most, and while the rhythm guitar suffers some presence in the mix, it actually sounds quite decent. Two different mixes of Follow the Reaper exist, and the single version of "Hate Me!" sounds totally different from the album version, which you might find incorrectly floating around in the regular tracklisting when downloading. It's hard to justify placing any album above this one, and I won't. Not only does Follow the Reaper still live up to the hype, it elicits a cackling joy to yours truly that few albums can. Wildly proficient and timeless, you can't take this one away from us.