Children of Bodom, the highly acclaimed and talented band from Finland is back with their sophomore offering "Hatebreeder". This is one hell of a technical album. Fans of Yngwie, Dream Theater, Stratovarius and the like would surely salivate on the extreme technicality of the guitar and keyboard playing. But of course CoB is a death metal band and that makes them different from the other super melodic bands. CoB incorporates the high-pitched black metal like screams and sometimes some clean singing which totally sounds like latter day Sentenced, which of course is another Finnish band. If i would define their sound, they are a mixture of neo-classical music, power, death and black metal. Most songs are of a neo-classical tinged power metal backdrop with melodic riffs topped with the harsh vocals. Blast beats are also put to good use within selected songs. They're very catchy and you'll be familiar with them in no time at all. Oh yeah, also check out the track "Hatebreeder" coz the first part sounds a lot like Dissection's "Night's Blood". The beauty of CoB is that they can be very melodic but also fast and partially brutal at the same time. The production is top notch which compliments the songs entirely. The popular Kimberly Goss is also featured here. She contributed some screams and also penned the lyrics to "Silent Night, Bodom Night". The overall hue of the cd is green and it kind of reminds me of the packaging of Dimmu Borgir's "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant". But of course the music is different. To the technical freaks, musicians and to all you melodic death supporters, this album will definitely be in your stereos for a long time. Also check out their live album which was recorded in Tokyo. Should be killer shit as well.

This review is credited to:
DEATHCRAYON