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Children Of Bodom - Relentless Reckless Forever review



Reviewer:
5.0

640 users:
6.54
Band: Children Of Bodom
Album: Relentless Reckless Forever
Release date: March 2011


01. Not My Funeral
02. Shovel Knockout
03. Roundtrip To Hell And Back
04. Pussyfoot Miss Suicide
05. Relentless Reckless Forever
06. Ugly
07. Cry Of The Nihilist
08. Was It Worth It?
09. Northpole Throwdown
10. Party All The Time [Eddie Murphy cover] [iTunes bonus]
11. Angels Don't Kill [Live at Bloodstock] [Japanese bonus]
12. Every Time I Die [Live at Bloodstock] [Japanese bonus]

[Digipak Edition Bonus DVD]
+ Was It Worth It? music video
+ Making of Was It Worth It?
+ Angels Don't Kill - Live at Bloodstock
+ Everytime I Die - Live at Bloodstock
+ The Rockhouse Method with Alexi Laiho - DVD trailer
+ The Rockhouse Method with Alexi Laiho - instructional DVD excerpt

Imagine a man walking down the road, traveling right down the middle, never wavering, never stopping. Maybe it's dark out, a slight echo to his footsteps. All of a sudden, the man stops. His ears perk up for a second, shrugs it off and keeps right on walking. That is about as close as Children Of Bodom are on this record to returning to their classic sound.

There are certainly more melodies on this album. However, they still aren't catchy enough to draw the listener in. Their rhythms have always been simple and a tad lackluster, but it was the haunting melodies that kept it from becoming boring. Without them, the album is just that... boring. It has some highlights. "My Funeral" is a ripping tune, the best off Relentless Reckless Forever. The song quality goes down from there.

I know they will never write another Follow The Reaper and I'm not even looking for another one. They wrote a decent heavier-thrash style album with Hatecrew Deathroll and at this point, I'd even welcome another Are You Dead Yet? (in fact that's looking pretty good about now), but it sounds like they're trying to sound like Slipknot or Killswitch Engage. The keyboard riffs (which were a staple in their music) are almost non-existent on Relentless Reckless Forever. I cannot hum a single keyboard part from memory on this album.

All in all, a snoozefest. It has a short run time, clocking in at about 40 minutes, but I get bored at about the 15 minute mark. It just has too few memorable moments. Don't get me started on the production....


Rating breakdown
Performance: 6
Songwriting: 5
Originality: 6
Production: 5

Written by Svneatr | 14.03.2012




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Guest review by
Windrider
Rating:
8.0
Even before this album was released and before anyone could have heard a sound of it, quite everyone knew that this will not become an album worth a 10. Children Of Bodom have changed too much to return to the old awesome tunes. The band stated before the release of it that Relentless Reckless Forever would happen to be the best Bodom album ever. Blah blah the same shit a band always cries out for marketing, but in this case it even sounded ridiculous. I admit that I was one of those who decided not to spend money on this record. But now I am glad that I am not that firm with my principles in some cases! Expecting some Blooddrunk shit with only more party atmosphere it was a real surprise to me when I first listened to it.

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published 21.06.2011 | Comments (23)


Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 31   Visited by: 156 users
18.03.2012 - 03:33
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Guest on 18.03.2012 at 03:19

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 18.03.2012 at 03:15

Also Slipknot's first two are horrible to my ears always was and always will be. Wannabe sound like extreme music but failing at it.Yes I did hear those albums in their entirty cause some frineds of mine seemed to love it so had to sit through them at parties.

I remember rebelling slightly against the "new clown band" when it was new, but I guess it was tracks such "Surfacing" and "Wait And Bleed" that turned my mind.


rebeling against them when you were 12? The band is tailor made for 12-year-olds, just like Kiss were tailor made for 11- and 12-year-olds when I first heard them
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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