Review Summary: I Sort Of Worship Chaos.
2003’s ‘Hate Crew Deathtoll’ was the final domino in the quintet’s discography that rooted them as one of the most innovative extreme bands out there. Their instrumentation was technically demanding, the vocals where abrasive and everything in between was frantically fast. Yet at one point in Children Of Bodom’s extensive career, it took them 10 years to satisfy their eccentric fans. ‘Are You Dead Yet’ followed the aforementioned album in 2005 and it simply did not live up to the mark that the band set themselves; thus began the steady decline of Children Of Bodom which progressed with two more albums of further musical mediocrity. In 2013, singer and guitarist Alexi Laiho announced that they were “making the fastest record of their career.” Thankfully those words carried more weight than the predeceasing albums and Halo Of Blood reminded us why we should listen to Children Of Bodom more often.
Now that it seems the band is back on track, they can now focus entirely on maintaining musical consistency and with a new album going by the title of "I Worship Chaos", let’s hope that it lives up to the name. Their ninth album has a direct melodic death metal approach to it. ‘My Bodom (I am The Only One)’ alternates in tempo to create a crazed tone however it still grasps that shuddering riff throughout the song with prickling effect. Furious drums collide at G force with some flurrying guitars during the title track that forms moments of brooding atmosphere which bands such as Insomnium can master.
"I Worship Chaos" is very focused on the band’s frontman-Alexi “Wildchild” Laiho. He’s had to handle all guitar parts for this album due to long time member Roope Latvala leaving the band and, generally, he pulls it off strongly. ‘I Hurt’ is a strong album opener that incorporates everything people love about Children Of Bodom. Janne Wirman’s keyboards are fully charged and strike you first followed by a flank of Alexi’s wild guitar talent. Some modernity is found in this song with unsubtle breakdowns that are used to crushing effect. Alexi shows us he can still play just as fast as ever as a whirlwind of sonic dominance is heard during ‘Horns’ and ‘Suicide Bomber’ however slower songs such as ‘Prayer For The Affliced’ showcase his ability to focus on riff driven songs.
It seems as if Children Of Bodom are playing this album safe after the success of "Halo Of Blood". The closest they come to touching their glory days is in ‘Morrigan’ which has a great harmonizing atmosphere to the instrumentation. It has a good balance of keyboards to create drama and Alexi’s rasping vocals generate a gritty chaotic nature. Nearly all the songs on this album have their own hook or bridge however the argument is that the same catchy feature is used on every song. (Ironically these features do however just about save them from being 'Children Of Boredom'). They all have some spiralling guitar hook or a-crowd-participation-moment in the chorus. While these features are a good touch; they are used too frequently which makes this album seem very harmless. As a whole "I Worship Chaos" is a coherent melodic death record with some strong power influence over it however when put compared to their earlier releases, there is clearly something still missing.
