Children Of Bodom

support Sylosis
author MN date 01/12/15 venue Amager Bio, Copenhagen, DEN

As one of the most anticipated shows of the year, the co-headlining gig featuring Children Of Bodom and Lamb Of God sold out quite rapidly, but to the dismay of many fans, Lamb Of God decided to cancel their remaining dates of their European tour in wake of the terrorist attacks at the Bataclán in Paris. This cancellation move sparked a very heated discussion in media of whether Lamb Of God are acting responsibly, or giving in to the fears the terrorists are ultimately trying to induce. Nevertheless, Lamb Of God would not be gracing the stage, but Children Of Bodom (alongside Sylosis) have decided to brave the storm and perform at Amager Bio instead. As a long-time fan of COB, I venture out to the venue in hopes of seeing Children Of Bodom perform an extensive set, hpoing for more of their older-neoclassical work rather than their thrash-tinged later releases. First up, however, is British Sylosis who hope to spark an interest in the Danish metal community with their thrashy yet progressive soundscape.

All photos courtesy of Phillip BH

Sylosis

Sylosis are quite a new but refreshing discovery, and considering Lamb Of God cancelled, I am happy to see that Sylosis decided to remain on the bill. Their music has its roots in the Bay-area thrash scene, but with a clearly modernistic approach that allows for both metalcore and doom influence to characterize their sound. By 20:00 the crowd stand ready to receive tonight’s first guests and Sylosis provide a no-frills approach with insistent potency. The banter is short, but honest while the music really carries everything. Sylosis are performing with a pretty well-calibrated sound where especially the drums of Ali Richardson provide a rib-rattling experience. Singer Josh Middleton has a versatile and full-bodied vocal scream that sound a lot like the best screams of Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying. He also possesses some great solo skills, but it is the contagious riffs of killer tracks like "Leech" and "Dormant Heart" that really raise the bar for tonight’s performance. In many ways, Sylosis are a brilliant opening act, they are relatively unknown to the crowd and fiercely display some relevant metal that ought to be checked out.

7

Children Of Bodom

As the lights dim yet again, the audience begins to clap and scream with excitement, and whilst all eyes are scouting the stage, the members of Children Of Bodom appear sporadically around the stage. Last to enter is Aleksi Laiho, wearing a beanie-cap and a sweater already providing a worrying signal. "Are You Dead Yet? " opens the night to the delight of most fans. The thundering double pedals and the theatrical keys of Janne Wirman start to induce some movement in the crowd where one large mosh pit starts to form in the centre of the stage.

As one of my personal favourite newer tracks, "Halo Of Blood" is performed, it is, unfortunately, a lukewarm live experience where the blast-beats and black metal-tinged riffs are drowned in technical problems of low guitar volumes, which makes the song a muddled mess. So far the sound is calibrated heavily with bombastic drums but lack of potency in the guitar section, especially during neo-classical songs like "Every Time I Die" and "Hate Me!”, which are both songs that come from Children Of Bodoms strongest period. Luckily, things start to come together better with the onset of the super catchy "Lake Bodom" which displays the duo-virtuosity of Aleksi and Janne's brilliant interplay. As one the strongest tracks of the arguably weak “Blooddrunk” album, the namesake is performed and the crowd are finally creating what seems like a constant moshing-movement in the centre of the floor.

With a solid nine releases, Children Of Bodom have plenty to choose from while constructing their setlist, and luckily tonight features very little representatives from their latest, somewhat disappointing release "I Worship Chaos", of which the title track provides one of their heaviest tracks as of yet. "Angels Don’t Kill" and "Hate Crew Death Roll" are some of the best-received tracks, providing a nostalgic retrospect into the HCDR-era where neo-classical elements still featured heavily on their releases.

The initial set is finished off with the super contagious and galloping "Bodom After Midnight" from the "Follow The Reaper" record, arguably their strongest release ever. With the anticipated encore, most people know what to expect, as an absolute must at a COB show, “Downfall” is performed with prowess and ultimately lifts the quality of the show which started off somewhat trivial. It turns out that Aleksi Laiho has been suffering from a flu, and for that reason is not in tip-top shape, so props for the Finnish guitar hero to bite through it anyway. Children Of Bodom have never astounded me live, but to view the virtuosity of their musicians is an experience on its own. Nevertheless, I felt a minor sense of disappointment upon the nights completion.

Setlist:

  • 1. Are You Dead Yet?
  • 2. In Your Face
  • 3. Morrigan
  • 4. Halo Of Blood
  • 5. Everytime I Die
  • 6. Bodom Beach Terror
  • 7. Hate Me!
  • 8. Lake Bodom
  • 9. Blooddrunk
  • 10. I Worship Chaos
  • 11. Angels Don’t Kill
  • 12. Hate Crew Deathroll
  • 13. Bodom After Midnight

--Encore--

  • 14. Downfall

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.