Monday, November 14, 2005

Children of Bodom Show

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Children of Bodom show at the House of Blues in Chicago. The show met all my expectations as it delivered pummelling metal, enraging the sold-out crowd.

The openers, Amon Amarth, proved to be one of the best in the "Viking Metal" genre. They got the crowd going as soon as they struck the first chord. I have never seen an opening band rile the crowd like they did. Their set was crushing. Punishing riffery, solid guitar solos, and machine-gun drumming created several mosh pits that humbled even the most seasoned metal fans. Impressive!

Trivium, the young band headed by Matt Heafy, had a large following in the crowd. I was able to spot the "metalcore" kids rather easily. I feared for them, for I thought they would engage in their "karate kid" mosh style. However, they moshed in the traditional circle pits called upon by Heafy himself. As for the music, Trivium, although not as solid as Amon Amarth, played a brutal set. They demonstrated that they can hang with the tough guys. Both guitarrists played impressive guitar solos throughout their set, proving that these guys mean business. These dudes have the skills to be huge, but they must grow musically before that happens. In my opinion, they are still looking for their distinct sound/style. Once they find it, watch out!

Children of Bodom finally took the stage. The crowd was chanting "Bodom, Bodom, Bodom" rather loudly. They started off with a tune from "Follow the Reaper" and it sounded amazing! Soon thereafter, they were ripping songs from "HateCrew Deathroll", "Hatebreeder", and the newest album "Are You Dead Yet?" The trade-off solos by Alexi Laiho and keyboardist Janne Warman were jaw-dropping! The sound was phenomenal. The playing was perfect. The vibe was unforgettable. COB inspired the most violent crowd I have ever seen since Slayer! It was mayhem! I'm still trying to put all my thoughts together at this point, so this review may sound somewhat generic. Perhaps I can't put these feelings into words. Awesome show! I give it a 10/10!!!

Osgiliath, make sure you don't miss this one!!!

1 comment:

Lefty Metalhead said...

I agree. Trivium should have opened. Amon Amarth was so fucking good! The crowd went wild when these guys played. Oh well, maybe next time.