MANEL LILOTH (8/10)

Word of a new CHILDREN OF BODOM album on the horizon, it always seems to be accompanied by a chorus of bitching and moaning from the fans as they hope and pray for a return to the band's "Hatebreeder" / "Follow The Reaper" heyday. I can tell you that "Halo Of Blood" isn't the full-on back-to-the-roots album you'd sell your siblings' internal organs for. It is however, the best damn thing CHILDREN OF BODOM have released since "Hate Crew Deathroll" in 2003. And the biggest surprised other than finally having album cover art worth looking at, may Jack The Ripper steal our breath in this cold winter while listening to this versatile, well produced and most vitally - Bodomesque album.

This album contains ten songs that are completely different from one another and everything else on the record, yet they aren't even a little out of place. Starting from the vicious opener "Waste of Skin", you hear the return of the ultra-fast, melodic guitar and masterful blend of bass guitar and keys. The music moves and travels but rather in a three-dimensional space, soaring and dipping like a rampaging dragon burning its way through the core of your mind, is one of the latter, but gives only a hint of the heaviness that follows in the form of the eponym track "Halo Of Blood" the opening riff flirts with their homeland's much vaunted ice-cold, grimly melodic black metal before switching gears into keyboard-driven power thrash and pouring on the high-shine gloss. The quintet has nailed an aggressive sound that I am sure many didn't expect them to be capable of. The following "Scream for Silence" comes on slow and steady with a great solo section. "Transference" starts pretty same old, but it builds up to be one of the catchier songs on "Halo of Blood", actually the whole thing made me feel like I was standing in a stadium surrounded by an army of fists in the air, pumping to the moderately speedy tempo. The music is fairly straight-forward but features a number of catchy hooks as well as a dueling guitar and keys solo that totally takes me back to the "Hatebreeder" days. "Bodom Blue Moon" utilizes them as a driving force throughout that brings back some stronger keyboard solos. The successive tracks get better and better "The Days are Numbered" is a definite favorite with its chaotic qualities and one of the best solos of the album. In complete in-your-face contrast, "Dead Man's Hand On You" is a dark-hearted "ballad" that opens with clean guitars and grand piano, featuring front man Alexi Laiho offering up spoken word verses before returning to his trademark hell mouth delivery. Then comes the "Damaged Beyond Repair", this one is all out-of-war!  Listening to it puts on your favorite battle scene from any of the Lord of the Rings movies. The belligerent tone fits so well, you will totally be rooting for the Orcs. If it's a long battle scene keep right on playing it through the "All Twisted" blast through infectious riffs but maintain an old school Rock N' Roll heart while the intensity won't budge one inch. Our bodomesque journey ends perfectly with "One Bottle And Knee Deep" features some of the most innovative, catchy and technically impressive writing on the record.

"Halo of Blood" is a fitting companion piece to "Relentless, Reckless Forever" and should be treated as such. While the prior record may be more climactic, that does not diminish CHILDREN OF BODOM's accomplishment here. There is a feeling with this album that's difficult to define with words, but the songs give off the impression that you're listening to one of the great ones showing their craft. And I think the secret to their success has been always an unapologetic penchant for lifting elements of Death, Black, and Thrash Metal and polishing them up to make their semi-abrasive styling accessible for a younger generation.

TUOKSU HOLOPAINEN (8/10)

I have to say that I never really cared about any of the albums that CHILDREN OF BODOM have been releasing over the last couple of years, but this one is kind of retrieving the better old sound but utterly taking the whole thing to new level of catchiness in melodic Death Metal.

"Halo of Blood" is quite darker than your regular CHILDREN OF BODOM but with a more melody-driven yet certainly guitar-driven sound, as well as a very intensive use of keyboards, fusing Black Metal and a totally familiar Power Metal touch, much to my enjoyment.

Certainly, I would never complain about Alexi Laiho's awesome and instantly-recognizable wolf-like growl, prominent in "Damaged Beyond Repair" or the title track for instance... There are awkwardly unexpected moments towards the end of some tracks with spoken movie-like lines, conjuring a gloomier wild feeling and a dim cinematic atmosphere.

"Waste of Skin", "Transference" and especially "Bodom Blue Moon (The Second Coming)" are the kind of tracks with one hell of a catchy melody that will get you hooked on this new upgraded sound of Bodom. "All Twisted" is almost SONATA ARCTICA with that keyboard solo it has. The Black Metal touch can be heard in tracks like the aptly-title-track "Halo of Blood", which at some point reminds me of FINNTROLL.

I think with this album, CHILDREN OF BODOM will still be considered as one of the leading Finnish bands (and again I shall say Finnish bands are the best!) of melodic Death Metal. it's no "Follow The Reaper" / "Something Wild" glory though. It's quite short as well, consisting of 10 tracks yet lasts only around 40 minutes, which is great lest you start eye-rolling.

​​