Album Review: I Worship Chaos by Children of Bodom

While Children of Bodom are used to personnel shakeups, the departure of longtime guitarist Roope Latvala before the recording of I Worship Chaos posed a challenge. A member since 2003, he was an integral part of the band's sound. This left vocalist/guitarist Alexi Laiho handling all six-string chores alone -- the first time he had ever done so -- making this COB's debut as a quartet.

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Finnish metal is a breed of its own: more melodic than that produced in some other Scandinavian countries, more humorous, more apt to allow non-metal influences to reveal themselves. Children of Bodom has been one of the bands leading the Finnish charge for nearly 20 years and now, with the group’s first album as a quartet and first without longtime guitarist Roope Latvala now ready for our ears, one things become clear: Children Of Bodom is as thrilling as ever maybe even more so than before. Lead vocalist and guitarist Alexi Laiho prowls the sonic landscape like a panther stalking prey across numbers such as “Morrigan”, “My Bodom (I Am The Only One)” and “Widdershins”, his lead guitar lines as stinging and bright as they’ve ever been, each one the sound of an insatiable hunger for heaviness.

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While 2013's Halo of Blood was celebrated for being a return to form after their three previous records, change was still afoot in the Children of Bodom camp, with guitarist Roope Latvala parting ways with the band in May of this year. I Worship Chaos represents the high-profile Finnish melo-death outfit's first record as a four-piece, with shredhead frontman Alexi Laiho assuming all guitar duties across the LP.Has the lineup change affected their sound in any noticeable fashion? Not really. Laiho is still as technically dazzling as ever in both lead and rhythm positions, with speedy solo sections on "My Bodom (I Am the Only One)" and "Horns" rarely entering the realm of unnecessary six-string wankery.

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