Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Children of Bodom & For My Pain

Children of Bodom-Hate Crew Deathroll

For My Pain-Fallen

Here is a band that I have grown an intense passion for. These guys seem to be wearing the crown these days in the Finnish extreme metal scene. The band is absolutely tight as hell and very hard driven. Those who are already aware of these guys know exactly what I'm talking about. My introduction to these guys was through their 'Follow the Reaper' album which I thought was brilliant. The band take a no bullshit approach to their music. These guys are here to rock and they are not shy about it. The newest effort is titled 'Hate Crew Deathroll'. If you were familiar with the band and someone popped this disc in, you would be able to figure out who it was pretty easy. The band embraces a heavy and fast sound that is wrapped around with keyboards. Guitar work is similar to late 80's thrash in it's technique. Vocals are a bit over the top, but accent the music well. The guitar playing is the highlight of this record with tracks like 'Sixpounder', 'Triple Corpse Hammerblow', and 'Lil' Bloodred Riding Hood'. Overall, this album matches up very well with the bands previous efforts in quality. It is pretty amazing to listen to the synchronization of the keyboards and guitars on tracks like 'Needled 24/7', 'Bodom Beach Terror', and 'Angel's Don't Kill'. Another song I really liked was 'Chokehold (Cocked 'n Loaded)' which in the rhythms reminds me of something off of Priest's 'Painkiller'. Very solid record.

Overall

These is one of Spinefarm Record's finest acts. These guys are very capable technically in their songwriting and musicianship. The music will appeal to fans of power metal from just about any era. The music is very metallic with aggressive vocals. I think this album stacks up well with the bands previous efforts and is really what I consider essential. Highly recommended!

For more info: Spinefarm Records

Spinefarm Records really has a great roster. It appears that there is one helluva scene going down overseas in the Finnish market. Not only are there melodic speed metal bands as well as the darker death metal, but how about a bit of gothic flavor to even the mix. For My Pain is one of those that fit the mold. This band is really good. Their compositional skills are amazing with crunchy rhythms to beautiful atmospheric arrangements. If there is a band out there I would find similar in the area of atmosphere it would be somebody like Australia's Vanishing Point. Not that they are the same style. They just both have that very rich flowing sound in the background of the guitars and rhythm section. This album is the kind you can plug in the headphones with and let your mind wander. There are 10 tracks on the album all of which are good. I didn't feel there was any weakness in songwriting. The band aims for a sound and delivers it most excellent. With the consistency in quality, I actually do have some that stand out in mind as being my favorites which include 'Dancer in the Dark', 'Queen Misery' which reminds me a bit of Ten, 'Sea of Emotions', the ultra-melodic 'Broken Days', and 'Autumn Harmony' which has a bit of a Type O Negative grind to it. If you like your songs very rich with a ton of depth, this album is the payload. Another top notch Finnish act that has delivered a very solid effort.

Overall

What more is there to say. If you shy away from Gothic sound, this is one to exclude from your list and try out. The songs are tight and the melodies flowing. A very atmospheric effort from a very good band. Highly recommended!

For more info: Spinefarm Records