Children Of Bodom retire in glory
SPINEFARM Finnish melodic metal icons bow out in untouchable form
WHEN ALEXI LAIHO
disbanded Children Of Bodom in 2019, then passed away just 12 months later, it left a chasm that no metal band –no matter how flamboyant, talented or charismatic –have filled since. The Wildchild was a once-ina-lifetime rock star within extreme metal. Plus, his guitar playing’s trade-offs with keyboardist Janne Wirman were so impressive and fun that few have even dared to replicate them. All of the idiosyncrasies that made both Alexi and his band great have now been immortalised on
AChapter Called Children Of Bodom:
the recording of the last live show the Finns ever played.
The end of Bodom was effectively foreshadowed weeks before this December 2019 gig, with Janne, drummer Jaska Raatikainen and bassist Henkka Seppälä all announcing their exits in November. That the line-up was able to sustain itself for this finale –let alone make it such a triumphant, valiant send-off –says everything about their commitment to being one of metal’s most endearingly bombastic forces.
Under Grass And Clover, from 2019’s swansong album Hexed, instantly flaunts Alexi and Janne’s neo-classical chops. After the two exchange fanciful melodies, the more upfront In Your Face declares, ‘I don’t give a fuck, motherfucker!’ , symbolising the bluntforce intensity of modern classic Hate Crew Deathroll.
It’s the concert’s closing half-hour, however, that truly shows Bodom at their best. Follow The Reaper, Deadnight Warrior, Needled 24/7, Hate Me!, Hate Crew Deathroll, Lake Bodom and Downfall form a series of hits from the band’s golden age –and each one reinforces with bulletproof strength the all-adrenaline songwriting that made the band megastars. That nonstop excellence makes Alexi’s closing farewell all the more heartbreaking in hindsight. Even on their final night as a band, Children Of Bodom were peerless in the field of infectious, exuberant and unabashedly rowdy metal music. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Arch Enemy, Necrophobic, In Flames
MATT MILLS
EXOCRINE
Legend
SEASON OF MIST
French virtuosos summon another kraken from the outer realms
Rewarded for consistently startling, envelope-pushing albums, this Bordeaux quartet have saved their best for their Season Of Mist debut. Legend is bigger and more experimental than even previous efforts Maelstrom and The Hybrid Suns. Whether it’s The Altar Of War’s wall of sound or the jazz trumpet permeating the title track’s dizzying labyrinth, each song possesses ferociously heavy riffs and craniumimploding skill. Yet what sets Exocrine apart among the tech-death elite is their penchant for subversive melodic hooks that add a palpable potency to Dragon and epic finale By The Light Of The Pyre, which traverses strings, lightspeed riffing, Herculean percussion and evocative twin leads. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Archspire, Gorod, Beyond Creation
ADAM BRENNAN
HIRAES
Dormant
NAPALM
Melodeath up-and-comers don’t escape the shadow of the greats
On their 2021 debut album, Solitary, Hiraes lived firmly if capably in the shadow of melodeath favourites such as Arch Enemy. On their follow-up, the five-piece are still entrenched in convention and cliché. The flourishes they’ve introduced –the odd electronic beat and melodically sung verse – are little more than window dressing. Opening track Through The Storm could convincingly be a b-side from the latest Arch Enemy album, while Undercurrents’ lyrics – ‘The thing that I regret, is what I haven’t said!’ –are cringe-inducingly bland. Whatever Hiraes try next needs to be a bold diversion if they don’t want to go down as also-rans. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Insomnium
MATT MILLS
LINNEA HJERTÉN
NioSystrar
NORDVIS PRODUKTION
Ritualistic ambient super-heroics from the Swedish hinterlands
With her debut solo album, singer and sound engineer Linnea Hjertén marks herself out as a formidable talent. Awhisper compared to the goth-boshed doom she plays as amember of Shaam Larein, Nio Systrar is nevertheless a bold statement. The nine tracks come together like a cocoon of spun glass, Hjertén’s languageless vocal performance –recorded in a closet, no less –entwining with organic ebb-and-flow drones in away that evokes everything from battle hymns to lullabies. If there’s fault to be found, it’s that things occasionally err towards strangely familiar ‘funeral of a beloved superhero’ cinematics. It’s a minor quibble, though, and one that does nothing to diminish a significant and often startling achievement. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Anna von Hausswolff, Heilung, Forndom
ALEX DELLER PRESS
THE INFERNAL SEA
Hellfenlic
CANDLELIGHT
H
istorically minded black metallers take on the Witchfinder General
Three years after their superb Negotium Crucis album, masked marauders The Infernal Sea return with the Olde Englishinspired Hellfenlic. Telling the story of the infamous Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, the UK quartet play their brand of black’n’roll to chart his rise and fall in brutal detail. The serrated guitars of Frozen Fen are suitably chilling, the savagery of Bastard Of The East suggests just how formidable Hopkins was, while the groove-laden classic metal of Witchfinder and wistful folk metal of the stirring Messenger Of God add textures and a range not heard from them before. This is also the cleanest they’ve ever sounded, and while that takes away some of what made their prior albums so vital, it’s still an impassioned and intriguing history lesson from the plague doctors of BM. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Wode, Dawn Ray’d, 1914
JACK TERRY
PRESS
LORD DYING
ClandestineTranscendence
MNRK HEAVY
Portland’s sludge aggressors unleash a new, progressive strain
After two full-on sludge albums, the surprising classic rock leanings of 2019’s Mysterium Tredemendum were a huge, if not quite fully mastered, leap forward for Lord Dying.
Five years later, they’re clearly enjoying their genre-crossing ride with more confidence. It’s most noticeable in the weird mid-album sequencing, where they switch effortlessly from Final Push Into The Sun’s hardcorestyled aggression to the 90s Rush-reminiscent Dancing On The Emptiness, boosted by Kurt Ballou’s organic production. But while they excel at both throughout these 12 songs, their joy in performing eightminute mini-epics with harmonised vocals and instant hooks suggest they’re ready to leave their caveman tendencies behind for good and cross a threshold. And maybe they should. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Mastodon, Kylesa, Rush
OLIVIER BADIN
MADDER MORTEM
OldEyes,NewHeart
DARK ESSENCE Norway’s dark metal mavericks continue to dazzle
Despite having delivered several classic albums during their 26-year existence, Madder Mortem seem cursed to be criminally undervalued. The Norwegians’ esoteric blend of huge, alt-inclined riffs and ornate, emotionally dynamic melodies is certainly esoteric, but even the strangest songs on Old Eyes, New Heart have insidious, slow-burning hooks. As ever, the key to the band’s melodramatic power lies in Agnete M. Kirkevaag’s miraculous vocal performances, and her ability to make uproarious, art metal assaults like Coming From The Dark and Master Tongue sound both intimate and theatrical. From the noirish blues throb of On Guard to the defiant, big rock roar of Towers, every song takes a subversive turn or two, while also packing the kind of emotional punch that necessitates major dental work. Another triumph from a fearless musical force. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Oceans Of Slumber, Atrox, The Gathering
DOM LAWSON
MASTER
SaintsDispelled
HAMMERHEART
Death metal’s maverick OG plays to a new set of strengths
As a founding father of death metal, but always at a slight remove from the rest of the scene, Paul Speckmann has maintained an enigmatic presence in the extreme metal underground for more than 40 years. Relocating from Chicago to the Czech Republic after the millennium, the imperious frontman at last established a stable Master line-up, lasting nearly 20 years until a recent change of drummer. This injection of new blood seems to have had a revitalising effect. Saints Dispelled proves more colourful and animated than 2018’s Vindictive Miscreant, egging up the rock’n’roll spirit and reconnecting with their Motörhead influences to produce a sound less caustic and brutal, but wilder and more organic. Paul’s singular force of personality gets ever more eccentric on endearingly quirky melodies like Find Your Life, sounding less barbaric death/thrash, more 80s videogame soundtrack. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Obituary, Autopsy, Massacre
CHRIS CHANTLER