Children of Bodom - Relentless Reckless Forever

Relentless Reckless Forever, is something that Children of Bodom have stood up for all those years in their carreer and now the Finnish metallers, featuring frontman and modern-day guitar hero Alexi Laiho return with their seventh effort to date ‘Relentless Reckless Forever’  letting the anticipation grow more and more as the band’s praises for the album were very auspicious to say the less.
Being a massive fan myself I was eagerly waiting for this release not knowing what to expect as the previous release was mostly average. Fortunately, I was proven wrong as ‘Relentless Reckless Forever’ is fairly superior to its prodecessor leading to a very enjoyable first listen for sure.

The album kicks in with ‘Not my Funeral’ and the party has just began. The band is on fire pounding one riff after the other, setting the rules straight with mindblowing guitars and keyboards . Coming up next is ‘Shovel Knockout’ which raises the bar a little higher, the speed remains at a hight level completed by a certain atmosphere and feel prominent to the first three albums although the neoclassical influences are gone for good, which is not a bad thing actually. The guitars stand very complex yet direct and the riffing is very accurate and interesting for example in songs like ‘Cry of the Nihilist’ and ‘Was it Worth it?’. Additionally the lead guitar work is exceptional and inspired focusing mainly on the melody and how the solos serve the songs and not the opposite, generally the songs are very well written,  something that makes us struggle to find any actual fillers in the album. Lead single ‘Was it Worth?’ is a personal favourite, with it’s awsome chorus being very reminiscent to the old days but not it’s solo although it is quite entertaining nevertheless. The album closes with ‘Northpole Throwdown’, a  breakneck thrash song which puts this angst-ridden opus to end. One can say that this album has kinda a ‘Follow the Reaper’ flavour due to the more direct use of keyboards and the melodious guitar parts. 

On the side of production,  Matt Hyde did a pretty good job with a very modern and clear sound proving that he was a wise choice for the band. The album is mainly focused on guitars, as every CoB album, the guitar tone is vibrant and the interplay between the guitars and the keyboards is done neatly. Janne Wirman in the keyboards is also in the frontlines bringing the dark atmosphere back and contributing some awsome solos that rival those of Alexi Laiho in an endless duel, the outstanding musicianship dominate the album in generall. It is however a very straight-forward release, the main downside being mostly the lyrics which are very childish and simple, also song titles like ’Pussyfoot Miss Suicide’ are weak and silly.

‘Relentless Reckless Forever’ will not disappoint the fans of CoB, old and new and generally fans of extreme metal as the band managed to capture all the best elements they are known for with this album. Let the album ‘grow’ on you with every listen and get ready as Alexi and the Hatecrew unleash their new album in you face!

Standout tracks:Not my Funeral, Shovel Knockout, Relentless Reckless Forever

Also check: Nother, Sinergy, Lamb of God

tracklist:
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? [Music video]
09 Northpole Throwdown

8/10 Lefteris K.