Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 01/20/2009
Boy, whoever thought that technical
metal was dead as a doornail during the mid- to late '90s has been proven dead wrong. Just a few years after this aforementioned era of "metal no man's land," technical
metal has spread like a virus, via bands that share both an appreciation of the extreme aggression of
Slayer and the technical proficiency of
Iron Maiden. A fitting example of both of these metallic styles colliding as one is Finland's
Children of Bodom, and especially their 2008 offering,
Blooddrunk. All the ingredients from past
Bodom releases are present once more -- Goth keyboards, guitar acrobatics, and vocals that sound straight out of the torture chamber. These lads sure can play their instruments, as evidenced by such intense
metal blasts as the title track,
"Smile Pretty for the Devil," and
"Tie My Rope." But one thing that differentiates
Children of Bodom from the host of other similarly styled bands is that they know the importance of succinct songwriting -- only one track here stretches past the five-minute mark. As a result,
Blooddrunk showcases one of the few modern-day
metal bands that manage to balance straight-to-the-point songwriting with their collective instrumental prowess. [
Fontana Universal's Limited Edition was issued in 2009.]
~Greg Prato, All Music Guide
;)
