Blooddrunk (Special edition CD & DVD) by Children of Bodom
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Release date : April 2008
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
Background information
Review
Background information
Held during the Finnish Metal Expo at the Cable Factory in Helsinki, Finland on February 16th 2007, Children of Bodom garnered the “Band of the Year” award at the Finnish Metal Awards. At that specific ceremony, Laiho disclosed the fact that the outfit would enter a rehearsal room during late February, and would begin writing material in support of the quintet's sixth studio album. Once the summer festival season had concluded, Bodom hoped to cut tracks so that a tentative early 2008 issue could be aimed towards. At the end of May, new studio cut “Tie My Rope” was committed to tape, and featured as part of compilation album Bam Margera Presents…Viva La Bands, Vol. 2. Released in September, noteworthy groups such as In Flames, Clutch, CKY and Vains of Jenna lent the compilation unreleased numbers. Bam Margera, the MTV personality known for such shows as Jackass and Viva La Bam, additionally selected previously released tracks from his favourite artists which included the likes of GWAR, Dimmu Borgir and The Sounds. A plethora of festival appearances happened during June and July, at festival packages such as; Novarock (June 17th - Nickelsdorf, Austria), Hellfest (June 23rd - Clisson, France), Graspop Metal Meeting (June 24th - Dessel, Belgium), Tuska Open Air (June 29th - Helsinki, Finland), With Full Force (July 1st - Roitzschjora, Germany), Ruisrock (July 6th / 8th - Turku, Finland) and Masters of Rock (July 14th - Vizovice, Czech Republic).
During October to December, the full length was cut at Petrax Studios in Hollola, Finland. In November, it was announced that the title of Children of Bodom's sixth studio full length would be Blooddrunk. In terms of keyboards and vocals, production was helmed by Hypocrisy and PAIN mainman Peter Tägtgren. The rest of the album was produced by Mikko Karmila, who additionally handled mixing duties at Finnvox in that same month. Several cover interpretations were cut during such sessions, which Finnish magazine Soundi disclosed to be the following; Suicidal Tendencies' “War Inside My Head”, Creedence Clearwater Revival's “Lookin' Out My Back Door”, Kenny Rogers' “Just Dropped In”, and Stan Jones' “Ghost Riders in the Sky”. In support of the tracks “Blooddrunk” and “Hellhounds On My Trail” respectively, two music videos were filmed in December. On behalf of Katapult Filmproduktion, director Sandra Marschner recorded both videos in Berlin, Germany. A broad range of lyrical themes feature upon Blooddrunk, from suffering an unpleasant hangover (“Roadkill Morning”), self-harming (the title cut), to malevolent anger (“LoBodomy”, boasting lyrics authored by Sinergy's Kimberly Goss). Re-recorded was “Tie My Rope”. The album's front cover artwork sports the Grim Reaper, a piece designed by Jussi Hyttinen.
On March 8th 2008 at London, UK's Astoria, Children of Bodom performed a sold out concert, and at a Zavvi CD shop situated in Oxford Street, autographed copies of CD single and title cut “Blooddrunk”. Released in CD, seven-inch and twelve-inch vinyl formats, the twelve-inch vinyl's print run was limited to six-hundred-and-sixty-six copies.
Review
For years within Metal's underground, Children of Bodom have made waves. Each great Metal component has been continually exhibited; a great image, a respectable sound which draws from a myriad of Metal stylings, a cool mascot, and a potent live performance. Children of Bodom are on the verge of becoming a weighty name amongst the Metal fraternity, a stable which includes such groups as In Flames, Killswitch Engage, Cradle of Filth, and Dimmu Borgir.
A more experimental affair, 2005's Are You Dead Yet? was greeted via a mixed reaction. Blooddrunk, meanwhile, is an album destined to finally push Children of Bodom towards the very forefront of all that's Metal. The Thrash-tastic “Hellhounds on My Trail” inaugurates the album, and the group immediately affirm their dominance. Keyboard laden, and twin guitars abound, the title cut sufficiently fortifies this statement, causing the listener to raise their very fist, and yell. Whilst listening to this specific track, one cannot help but feel that Bodom's respective members have possibly been blooddrunk during past experiences. “Banned From Heaven”'s near mid tempo hard Rock vibe, additionally prevalent within “Tie My Rope”, is a testament to the fact that the group are equally as comfortable penning widely accessible numbers as when authoring a Thrash composition like “Smile Pretty For the Devil”.
Blooddrunk lies head and shoulders above countless Metal full lengths issued in recent years, and two reasons happen to be responsible. Firstly, the record fails to comprise. While the full length boasts some accessible moments, it's evident that (especially when Blooddrunk is critiqued against the outfit's initial four albums) Bodom is favouring whatever pleases the group. Lyrically dark and sinister, the album's musical stylings tend to rapidly fire, though sparkle extremely bright. Secondly, diabolical screams lie against synth style keyboards, of which are mixed heavily in the foreground. Additionally, geyser-esque guitar solos randomly burst throughout each respective track. Scribbled on paper, Children of Bodom's sound is seemingly terrible.
Blooddrunk's special edition is accompanied by a DVD, and that DVD includes the whole album in 5.1 Surround Mix. Whilst this reviewer isn't technologically inclined, or even interested, diehard audio junkies will be extremely pleased with this specific mix. In all likelihood, this isn't as great as witnessing Children of Bodom in live performance, though it's the next greatest spectacle. “Blooddrunk”'s music video features, which is splendidly filmed, though is particularly uneventful in comparison to other music videos, not to mention a feature which documents how the music video was made. Generally speaking, Blooddrunk is less straightforward than Hate Crew Death Roll, though isn't nearly as experimental as Are You Dead Yet?. Children of Bodom are capable of penning even greater albums, though Blooddrunk is certainly their greatest to date in terms of maturity, and overall sound.
