Children Of Bodom
Chaos Ridden Years: Stockholm Knockout Live

THE REVIEW

The guys from the fuckin' Finland have done it again. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the DVD "Trashed, Lost & Strungout" released in November 2005, but if you thought you'd seen everything from Children Of Bodom, you're wrong.

The DVD "Chaos Ridden Years: Stockholm Knockout Live" showcases a Bodom concert in Stockholm in February 2006.
The DVD consists of:

• Concert
• Interviews
• Promo Video Section
• Deleted Scenes
• Making Of
• Photo Gallery

The concert opens with the favorite track of the Finnish band's frontman, Alexi Laiho, "Living Dead Beat", whose conclusion with overdrive and tremolo is used to its best to introduce a Bodom classic, "Sixpounder", a nasty, gritty, and powerful piece. Another well-charged track is the following "Silent Night, Bodom Night", followed by an exhilarating "Hate Me!". Straight from the album "Are You Dead Yet?", CoB brings us "We're Not Gonna Fall", showcasing the first duel between guitar and keyboard... After a quick guitar change by Laiho, keyboardist Janne Warman introduces one of the most beautiful pieces of the entire performance "Angels Don't Kill": with rather rhythmic tempos, almost atmospheric at some points, the Bodom angels that don't kill manage to move you with their nostalgic sound.

After this piece, the first solo of the evening begins, "Deadbeats I" solo by the drummer Jaska Raatikainen who is praised by Laiho with a beautiful "He's a crazy son of a beeeeatch!" (listen to laugh behind this band of crazies). Then there's the classic CoB medley "Bodom After Midnight / Bodom Beach Terror" which becomes phenomenal when, in the final chorus, Alexi starts to sing "Stockholm after midnight, Stockholm after midnight ye, ye, yeah!"... beautiful... Then another historic track like "Follow The Reaper" which personally didn't impress me much. Next... to the cry of "Hei, Stockholm, somebody tell me what a fuck is goin' on!", "Needled 24/7" starts, followed by "The Clash Of The Booze Brothers", essentially a final riff duel between Alexi "Wild Child" Laiho and Janne "Warman" Wirman; a duel that ends with a hint of the most grotesque cover in the world "Oops! I Did It Again!" by Britney Spears... then immediately "In Your Face" another damn good track followed by the best-executed track on the entire DVD: if Alexi Laiho asks you "Are you the real motherfuckin' hate crew?" expect after a few seconds the beautiful "Hate Crew Deathroll" and expect something phenomenal and even a bit... 'moving', before the last chorus. Then the title track of their latest album "Are You Dead Yet?" a track with a crazy story behind it about three broken wrist bones.

As the concert nears its end, a solo by Roope "UKK" Latvala, accompanied in some parts by bassist Henkka Blacksmith, serves as an intro to "Lake Bodom" a track you sometimes love and sometimes can't stand... The last two tracks are "Everytime I Die" a wonderful slow track, and to finish in style, after Warman's request "Give me some of fuckin' heavy metal, pppplease!" begins to play the soundtrack of the film "Titanic" and after the opening notes of the last piece Laiho and Latvala pay homage to great metal, also hinting "Breaking The Law" by Judas Priest, the wild "Downfall" finally starts, accompanying Bodom to the end of the concert with the crowd shouting "Bodom! Bodom!" from below.

An interesting fact: evidently Alexi Laiho is a fan of Jim Carrey. After "We're Not Gonna Fall" he shouts to the audience "B-e-a-fuckin'-utiful!!!" which in Italian translates to Jim's line "Beeeellissimo" and after "Everytime I Die" he shouts "Allllright!" meaning Carrey's "Beeenissimo". A little treat for an exciting concert.