Sorry for the long waiting, but with other things to do I couldn't find the time to write a review. Now with an interview in prospect I took the time to finally make a review for Children of Bodom's Hatecrew Deathroll. The album starts with Needled 24/7, a very powerful opening track with great riffs and straight drumwork and a real impressive sounding Janne Warman, producing his insane keyboard plays. This song sounds very progressive and it's easy to recognize the special COB style in songwriting, however, the band has certainly been inspired by some other bands. It is hard to say, but I believe COB has been inspired by some kind of nu-metal bands, ortunately they still sound melodical and powerful at the same time. Sixpounder is a song that, as the name already says, pounds because of the low and slow basswork in the intro followed by the fast guitars. While this is one of the better songs on the album, which is ( in my opinion) inspired by some nu metal, but I must confess that I really like the mix between the melodical death metal with this newer influences. Children of Bodom thus creates a sound that has the speed and heavyness as on Hatebreeder, and the more melodical parts from Follow the Reaper, mixed with slighty more nu-metal based riffs. This is a real success formula and that's seen in the high standings in the Finnish charts. Chokehold (Cocked and Loaded) is a song that handles about addictions to alcohol and things like that. The song begins with a slow drum intro, and then continues with a great guitar/bass combo. Screaming guitars and a slow tempo. The chorus is also very strong and this is a song that keeps in your head for some days. The next song I would like to describe as one of the best songs on the album, called Bodom Beach Terror. With a rather simple intro, yet sounding promising for the rest of the song, they kick off in the right direction. This song is a real beauty because of the perfect mix with guitars and synths. The guitar solo is pushing it to the limit and the rythm still remains. I catched myself this morning doing my work singing "Starts slowly die, Words rising high". Angels don't kill is the title for the next song, which has a synth intro and goes further in a very slow low pounding riff. Again I hear the Nu metal influences and now I must be carefull with my words as I don't know who where first, but some of the guitar work on this song sound very alike with Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. As for Shadows Fall, I know they are inspired by work from COB. Luckily this song still remains a real melodical song with the great death metal riffs combined with today's numetal heavyness. Next song also starts with the synths and some melodical bass/guitar work, followed by the fast blasting drums. Triple Corpse Hammerblow is a powerful song that handles about coming up for yourself. With almost Cradle of Filth like synths, this song is certainly worth the listening. Janne goes mad with a great synth solo and the instrumental flood is great! The first impression I got for Hatecrew Deathroll was mainly influenced by this song, You're Better off Dead. This song kicks butts from the beginning to the end. With very agressive lyrics that seem to handle about some bad things with relationships and the pain that comes when your partner cheats you. I'm not so sure about this but all I can say is that this song has the best parts from all COB albums poured together in this song. I must confess that I liked this song the best. Time for some humor then, Lil' Bloodred Ridin' Hood is a song that starts with some impressive drumwork and continues in real bodom style. That means real impressive riffs, pounding basswork, headbanging parts and mainly the real technical drumwork. The title track of the album begins very softly with a happy synth intro but after awhile Bodom starts the terror again. With some very powerful riffs that also sound numetal and deathmetal at the same time they again have created a song that certainly will kick butts when played live, as this is a real live song. The album contains one bonus track called Silent Scream, a song that is again fast and impressive and a good close up for an album that After listening to this album for over a dozen times, I realised that this is a real impressive piece of work that deserved the high ranking in the finnish charts. Critics said that with Follow The Reaper Bodom was tended to go commercial, but in my opinion this new album is certainly NOT commercial. Combine the power of Hatebreeder, mix it with the more melodical influences of Follow The Reaper, give it a little twist and voila, you have Hatecrew Deathroll. I liked hatebreeder better, but that's just my taste. But this album deserves the second place with all his glory! Track Listing: 1: Needled 24/7 2: Sixpounder 3: Chokehold (Cocked and Loaded) 4: Bodom Beach Terror 5: Angels Don't Kill 6: Triple Corpse Hammerblow 7: You're Better Off Dead 8: Lil' Bloodred Ridin' Hood 9: Hatecrew Deathroll 10: Silent Scream Line-Up: Vox/Guitars - Alexi Leiho Guitars - Alexander Kuoppala Synths - Janne Warman Bass - Henkka T Blacksmith Drums - Jaska Raatikainen