Blooddrunk (Single)

After about two and a half years of studio-material silence, the Scythe-drawn shores of Southern Finland start making some noises again. Children Of Bodom’s latest single starts off with Janne Warman’s melodic keyboards very high in the mix and a sizeably heavy riff, leading into some mid-tempo churning. Alexi Laiho has retained the anger and growl in his scream that have made his vocals very recognizable and love/hate-qualified in the past.

I think the song slightly reflects Laiho’s “spoilers” about the upcoming material that slight touches of progginess, or should I say, added technicality is noticeable here. The guitars and keyboards harmonize nicely, widdling powerfully in the solo and there are little tricks pulled off with the tempos here and there. COB hasn’t gone all-out with this single track, more like laying down some ground work for what is to come. The drunken gang shouts that dominate the chorus should work beautifully on the live crowds.

Living up to their well-built reputation of picking out-of-the-box tunes to cover, the b-side on this single is a hyper-metalized version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Lookin’ Out My Backdoor. Just severely metalized is what it is. The very compact two-minute format is intact and the rhythm section just forces you to go “Yeeee-haw” when hearing it. Laiho doesn’t try to imitate the trademark nasal style of John Fogerty (which is a bit shame, actually), but the awesome banjo solos along with Warman’s organ-walls and saloon-piano widdlings more than make up for that. I’d guess this isn’t for the metal puritans, but I’m loving it. Just think what COB would sound when going for country rock and you’ve got this one. This would score big time points in a heavy metal barn dance (if such an idea isn’t too blasphemous).

The production is stellar and everything here leaves me hungrier to hear what the band is coming up with in a month. I’d say the overall sound of this disc takes me back to Follow The Reaper a bit, especially compared to the meat n’ potatoes-material of the previous album. Keep your eyes and ears open!