Children Of Bodom
Hate Crew Deathroll

THE REVIEW

After the fantastic "Hatebreeder" and the experimental "Follow The Reaper", the Children Of Bodom, a Finnish power metal band, return in 2002 with "Hate Crew Deathroll". If there were already stylistic changes in "Follow The Reaper" (still excellent), the same story repeats here and in my opinion, this deserves praise.

It starts with Needled 24/7, a very beautiful song and perhaps the best of the entire album, continues with Sixpounder and reaches Bodom Beach Terror, which is introduced by a great thrash-style riff. The fourth track is, at least for me, the best song of the album, Angels Don't Kill, an absolutely delightful track that shows how COB don't need to go all out to create great songs. In the following tracks, Triple Corpse Hammerblow and You're Better Off Dead, we have thrash influences that make both tracks very appealing. The album concludes with Lil'bloodred Ridin'hood, the self-titled track of the album, and the cover Silent Screm (needless to say whose it is!). In conclusion, Hate Crew Deathroll once again demonstrates how the band does not want to remain the same as in the beginning, adding features to each album that make the records even more enjoyable to listen to.

For those who adore the Finnish band, on the first listen, they might be taken aback, but I guarantee that, after listening to it multiple times, one can only appreciate the fourth effort of COB. A must-have.