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Children of Bodom > Shovel Knockout > Reviews
Children of Bodom - Shovel Knockout

Lost, crazy and far beyond. - 80%

Diamhea, February 7th, 2018

Looking back at this time period, there wasn't a whole lot of anticipation for Relentless Reckless Forever, at least in the circles that had any sense of discernment. Blooddrunk sorely disappointed me, and leading up to that record, the anticipation was huge when "Tie My Rope" finally leaked. It turned out to be a real dud of a track with elementary, out-of-place keyboard sections, so "Shovel Knockout" wasn't looking like much to give a shit about at face value, but it actually has a lot to offer and is one of the highlights of this period in the band's staggered de-evolution.

For one, the rawer production value of the record works fairly well with the song's off-kilter, yet memorable main riff. The track grooves as much as it thrashes, exhibiting a more comprehensive dichotomy than the rest of the record, which tends to wallow in irrelevance ("Cry of the Nihilist," "Pussyfoot Miss Suicide") or somehow manages to be fast and boring ("Northpole Throwdown"). Laiho's leads are acrobatic, yet restrained compared to the more spastic early material - so basically like Are You Dead Yet?'s better bits. The keyboard/guitar tandem around the two-minute mark with the supple pinch harmonics serves as a striking compositional component that effectively leads into the solos, which also stand out as being one of Wirman's few decent bits in the last decade. Dude just totally jumped the shark and does almost nothing interesting anymore.

"Shovel Knockout" is definitely a track to add to your Children of Bodom collection, even if you aren't particularly partial to the later material. I generally extract this, "Was It Worth It?," "Roundtrip to Hell and Back" and maybe the title track when making a mix of the band's better songs. It's a full-bodied and manic diversion into the strange headspace the band was in at the time, with Laiho calling out the naysayers that had amassed since the two records before Relentless Reckless Forever. This was just a bizarre time for the band and its fans, and I always find it interesting to reflect on such.