Children Of Bodom "I Worship Chaos" 2015

When release album´s 2013  "Halo of Blood" was a return to forms and a proper follow-up to sophomore Hatebreeder and third Follow the Reaper albums, it seemed the band was trying too hard. This can't be said of 2015's I Worship Chaos, where the band sounds both fresh and hard and pursues the same sound they were heading to at the beginning of the 2000s.

For the first time ever, Children of Bodom recorded as a 4-member band, meaning every single riff, lick and guitar solo is executed by Alexi Laiho. And, let me tell you, this seems to have changed the finish of the compositions, which sound sharper and contains multiple layers that fit once again, especially the solos.

I Worship Chaos is probably the best album the band recorded since 2000's Follow the Reaper. Of course, Hate Crew Deathroll (2003) was a great album, but changed a lot the style of a band who made work the combination of styles such as melodic death, thrash and power. Now we find a little bit more of black metal (especially in the drumming and blast beats) and even glam / 80's hard rock added to the formula, especially in riffs from "My Bodom (The Only One)" or "Widdershins" tracks.

Keyboard solos sounds crazier and maybe reminiscent of 2003's "You're Better Off Dead", winning back focus and covering once again the album as a whole in an atmosphere previously heard only in Follow the Reaper. Guitars have a lot more feeling while still showing Laiho's virtuosism. About the tracks, we get tour-de-force songs such "My Bodom (The Only One)" or the darker and neoclassic "Horns", catchy ones such as "Morrigan" or "Hold Your Tongue" and never before heard ones such as "All for Nothing," Which is Bodom's most melancholic and different sounding song they've ever recorded. We finally get to hear guitar and keyboard talking to each other in a final part that fits more solos than any other Bodom song in the band's history. The other slow one, "Prayer for the Afflicted" is perhaps too reminiscent of the Bodom classic "Angel's Don't Kill", and yet works as, again, the solos sound inspired. "Hold Your Tongue" kicks with a modern In Flames influenced riff just to lead into a rock song catchy as hell. The Children of Bodom are back with a vengeance.

The Album: