Children of Bodom 2006 Tour Review

Children of Bodom
2006 Tour
Review

Children of Bodom
God Forbid
Through the Eyes of the Dead
3/29/06
HOB
Reviewer: Karma E. Omowale
Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

Children of Bodom
N. American Tour

“Not Dead Yet, Children of Bodom Is Alive and Kicking, Showing North America What They’ve Got”!

On their second headlining tour of North America, Finland’s Children of Bodom is still riding the wave of their success from their last tour and relatively new release Are You Dead Yet as the band played to another sold-out show here at the House of Blues. Four months later, the Hate Crew is back at, the only way they know how, “In Your Face”! The bill was split with Chimaira and England’s Bullet For My Valentine on the first leg of the three and a half week jaunt then God Forbid and Through the Eyes of the Dead picked up the latter half. By the time the tour rolled through Chicago, we caught the God Forbid and TTEOTD version in which was no blockbuster by any stretch of the means, but it was solid bill nonetheless. The boys of Bodom pulled out all stops with a light show from hell coupled with a plethora of songs they didn’t perform the last go round. Speaking of setlists, it was nice to see God Forbid finally changed theirs up some. On top of that, God Forbid gave the crowd an awesome show, like one can expect less from this quintet?

In between changeovers, the venue played a varying selection of songs from the Music Choice Metal channel setlist ranging from “Crystal Mountain” by Death to Remembering Never’s “Con Artist” to “Forever Dead” by Finland’s Torture Killer. It went over famously. Overall, it was good show. Here is how the events of each individual broke down as seen through the eyes of FourteenG:

Lineup: Anthony Gunnells – Vocals; Justin Longshore – Guitars; Chris Anderson – Guitars; Jake Ososkie - Bass (ex-Arsis); Josh Kulick – Drums

Anthony Gunnells of Through the Eyes of the Dead (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

When is metalcore not metalcore that is the question? When it’s Florence, South Carolina’s TTEOTD. This band confounds with their brand of murderous cross-genre music mixed with hardcore, metalcore, and melodic death metal. Either way you slice it, the pie all comes out in the same dimension – they were noisier than hell! The best way to describe their sound is a cross between Black Dahlia Murder meets The Agony Scene minus the intense melody. Good vibes poured from the stage it was just too bad you could not discern the vocals of Anthony Gunnells over the instrumentation. From what we've been hearing, the band has not gotten the best response for this run via press/message boards. What we witnessed must have been something entirely different because they got a pretty damn good response from the Chicago audience. But, let’s start from the beginning shall we? The band promptly started at 6:30 pm to raised metal horns throughout the jam packed floor. Gunnells shouted, “What’s up Chicago? We’re Through the Eyes of the Dead and we’re here to play some fucking metal tonight! This mother fucker’s called Two Inches From A Main Artery!”, the crowd cheered and the band ripped into the song. Tearing apart the sonic sound waves like a jackhammer ripping through concrete as moshers on the floor cleaved the crowd into. Judging from the looks on many of the faces in the crowd, it took then by surprise when the band ripped into the second song without a break. On “With Eyes Ever Turned Inward”, Gunnells vocals were about as deep as Guy Kozowyk’s of The Red Chord. At the conclusion, the crowd gave a very good response to the band, most uncharacteristic of a Chicago crowd to give this much love to an opener, especially one that hasn't toured here much.

At the conclusion of the “With Eyes”, the frontman addressed the crowd again, “What the fuck is up Chicago? Is every one having a good time?”, the audience yelled. Gunnells continued, “For those of you who have no clue who we are, we are Through the Eyes of the Dead from South Carolina with God Forbid and the band that never sleeps and always parties hard, Children of Bodom!” The floor erupted over the introing clanging of the guitars and drums. The vocalist then intored the next selection, “If you liked what you heard, buy our full length CD Bloodlust. This is “Truest Shade Crimson”!” For the finale Gunnells said, “We’ve got one more fucking song, it’s off our full length CD and it’s available in the back!” The crowd cheered for the band as they made their exit.

We were shocked that the band did not perform their single “Bringer of Truth”, the single that was once in heavy rotation on the Music Choice metal channel. The band did turn in a credible performance but here’s the final call: if you get into brutal bloodcurdling wall-to-wall screaming in agonizing, pain as if their penises were being raked over large shards of broken glass, then this band is so for you! Wish we could have told you more about their performance other than what Gunnells said but its a little rough to make a fair assessment when you cannot discern instrumentation from one another. You may want to pick up a copy of Bloodlust; it is not bad at all!

Setlist: Two Inches From A Main Artery; With Eyes Ever Turned Inward; Beneath Dying Skies; Force Fed Trauma; Truest Shade Crimson; When Everything Becomes Nothing.

Lineup: Byron Davis – Vocals; Doc Coyle – Guitar; Corey Pierce – Drums; Dallas Coyle – Guitar, Vocals; John Outcalt - Bass

Byron Davis of God Forbid (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Fresh off the heels of the Anthrax Reunion Tour, New Jersey’s very own hardworking God Forbid opened with a hot response from the crowd. The audience cheered and threw their horns for their metal heroes. Vocalist Byron Davis addressed his hyped fans from the get go as the band queued up “The End of The World”, the opening song, “Chicago, this is God Forbid in the mother fucking house!” the band then ripped into the song. The ever interactive frontman screamed at the audience during the break in the song, “What’s up Chicago?”, in which the crowd screamed as loud as they could. At the conclusion, the crowd was in a frenzy. Davis spoke again, “From the Alamo, off Gone Forever this one is called “Force Fed”! Let’s keep this one going!” Everyone in the audience seemingly sang the chorus about as loud as Byron did. During the first breakdown, the first crowd surfer of the night crossed the barrier. Davis seized the opportunity to connect with the fan screamed, “Let me see your horns!”, midair, the kid threw up his horns along with the rest of the audience. It was great!

To intro the next song Davis addressed the blissful metallers, “We have a new album out called Constitution of Treason this one’s called “Chains of Humanity”. If you know the words, sing along! I want to see you mother fuckers in the pit! Let’s get this shit going!” A pit consumed the floor nanoseconds before the band could start playing. Unfortunately, the band did not sound as crisp on this song as they have in times past. Of course, this is no reflection on the band but the HOB. Can you believe it? It then hit us that TTEOTD may have sounded better providing the venue could have made the sound system a kinder place for both bands. However, drummer Corey Pierce’s performance went unscathed.

“What’s up Chi-town? How are you?” Not being satisfied with the answer, Davis posed the question again, “I said HOW ARE YOU?”, the crowd yelled loudly this go round. “In case you didn’t know we’re God Forbid from New Jersey. We came to rock out for you! So make some noise for TTEOTD and Children of Bodom!!” The crowd went nuts. “This is off the album Determination before Gone Forever this is “Broken Promise”! The crowd screamed. During the song, the band pumped each other up as their shouts could be heard over the crowd. The audience then started to mimic the band. They then ripped into “Washed-Out World”. Guitarists Doc and Dallas Coyle were headbanging awhile then bassist John Outcalt joined in! When the crowd roared a smile on Davis’ face appeared a mile wide.

We now accelerate to the final portion of their set; sorry the bathroom and the bartender were both calling, ever so loudly! “This is the last song off Constitution of Treason! We’ll be back real mother fucking soon! “Crucify Your Beliefs”!” Well as luck will have it, God Forbid will be back on the same bat channel next month on the 2006 Jäger Spring Tour with Chimaira, Arch Enemy, and Hate Eternal! WOOHOO!

Setlist: End Of The World; Force-Fed; Chains Of Humanity; Broken Promise; Washed Out World; To The Fallen Heroes; Better Days, Judge The Blood, Crucify Your Beliefs.

Lineup: Alexi Laiho – Vocals / Guitar; Henkka T. Blacksmith – Bass; Jaska Raatikainen – Drums; Roope Latvala – Guitars; Janne Warman – Keyboards

Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Before the band could take the stage, the audience began to vociferously shout, “Bodom, Bodom, Bodom” before the band came on. As game show music piped through the PA, the lights came on illuminating the entire stage; the sold-out crowd went nuts. Knowing it would be a light show to die for! In true game show fashion, an announcers voice rang out, “From the gutters of Helsinki, they party hard and they never sleep, Children of Bodom!” The crowd wailed as the band filed onto the stage, one couldn’t believe the audience could get any louder than they were previously but that notion was obviously put to rest. The band immediately ripped into “Are You Dead Yet?” To allay frontman and guitarist Alexi Laiho's fears of their fans getting sick and tired of seeing their Finnish faces, he has not a worry in the world! Judging from the reaction of the crowd, the band is a LONG ways away from eternal downfall or being called Children of Boredom! Sorry, couldn't resist that one!! It was nice to see keyboardist Janne Warman was into it from the start. He had a smile on his face a mile wide, as well as the rest of the band! After the conclusion of the title track from the latest album, Laiho addressed his devoted fans, “Oh yeah, how’s this Chicago?”, the crowd erupted. “Jesus fucking Christ, every time we come back you guys are going fucking crazy! You guys ready to do this shit?” The audience yelled to the top of their lungs with assorted cheers. Laiho smiled and then screamed, “This one’s called Needled 24/7”. Everyone in the audience sang along, including yours truly. In the middle of the song, Alexi injected, “Chicago, tell me what the fuck is going on!” The place went berserk!

To intro the next song, Laiho yelled, “Chicago, you know what time it is? It’s time to Follow the mother fucking Reaper!” The audience erupted on the floor as well as in the rafters complete and utter mayhem ensued. At the conclusion of “Reaper” Alexi said, “Thank you so fucking much Chicago!” This next one is off Hatebreeder…” the crowd got even louder than they were before, if that were possible. The frontman continued, “This is Warheart”! Talk about surplus of energy! Wow!! “Hate Me” immediately followed! Alexi thanked the hyped crowd after the song. “We’re gonna slow things down a bit…” then Janne started to play the intro for “Angels Don’t Kill”, the crowd roared. Not shamed to admit we shrieked like bitches ourselves! The lights on this song were gorgeous! Here’s a question, how do you surf to this song? Well six-seven surfers found a way to debunk the myth that you can indeed surf to slow tunes.

“So you guys want some more?”, the crowd screamed as if the Reaper had appeared to them. Sorry, couldn’t help it! Laiho continued, “We’re gonna play a song for you that we’ve never fucking played here before. It’s from Hatebreeder it’s Towards Dead End!” At first, the majority of the crowd was too stunned to react then all of a sudden the venue simply imploded. Warman was really into this song. Laiho took a trip back to goof off and jam with the keyboardist. Alexi then stood at the foot of the stage and had the audience clap along to the beat of the song during its break. Guessing the rhythm section was feeling left out as bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith visited drummer Jaska Raatikainen and they rocked out. Not to be the odd man out, guitarist Roope Latvala then converged with Laiho as they proceeded to do their own thing. The band immediately ripped into “Chokehold”. Alexi jammed with Henkka during his solo. Then Alexi and Janne played the same “riffs” during another Laiho solo.

“From Something Wild, we’re gonna play some super old shit for you from ‘97 it’s called Lake Bodom”! The crowd went apeshit. Now on to the present and on to our next song, “In Your Face”, can someone explain how you have blast beats in a rock n’ roll song? The crowd was more than receptive to the new material in which they had done so all night, a far cry from the last time the band was here. Mr. Laiho has a valid point, the audiences have had some time to get used to the new material by now. Towards the end of the song, Alexi indiscriminately bitch slapped himself on both cheeks on queue to the lyrics. The band then took us back in time again for the next song, “Everytime I Die”. For the outro Laiho spoke, “This is the last song…but that’s what it says on the setlist!”, the crowd laughed along with Alexi. “Let’s see what happens! Thank you Chicago for being such a cool fucking audience!! This is Hate Crew Deathroll!” The venue erupted from the floor to the opera boxes in rafters”. The crowd cheered and cheered after the song was over.

During the brief intermission the crowd cheered, clapped, and chanted, “Bodom, Bodom, Bodom” as loudly as they could in hopes to get their Finnish heroes out on stage sooner. Is this déjà vu or what? Same thing exact happened during the last show. As soon as the band ran back on stage, mass hysteria ensued. The band beamed from ear to ear to see and hear the outpour of love and support from their adoring fans. The band immediately ripped into the first song off AYDY, “Living Dead Beat”. Following that song, Alexi and Janne did a solo together. At the conclusion, we figure Alexi was none to pleased by the stunned silence. Laiho screamed, “What the fuck!” The crowd yelled. The interaction betwixt the band and the audience was astounding. It was like two hearts beating as one. “Downfall” then followed. To end the night, Laiho addressed the crowd, “Here’s something off Tokyo Warhearts, Deadnight Warrior!” Janne smiled all through this song. Never have we seen him so happy and full of life. The crowd swooned. It was great to see.

Being truthful, this show did not bowl you over with gale force winds in comparison to the last gig but then again, they dug deep in to the archives and performed a plethora of songs they didn’t last time. No matter what Children of Bodom NEVER fails to put on an amazing live show as they did mix up the set with a lot of new, a lot of old, and some rarities for tonight’s set. Another HUGE difference on this tour is that there was less spitting by Mr. Laiho by 85%, not as many girls surfed, and of course, there is the addition of the surreal light show. Can’t wait to see the band annihilate new and old fans on the Slayer Unholy Alliance Tour with Lamb of God, Mastodon, and Thine Eyes Bleed. It will be the second time CoB has toured with LoG. Should be one helluva tour; until then!

Setlist: Intro; Are you Dead Yet?; Sixpounder; Needled 24/7; Follow The Reaper; Warheart; Hate Me!; Angels Don't Kill; Towards Dead End; Chokehold; Lake Bodom; In Your Face; Everytime I Die; Hate Crew Deathroll; ----Encore---- Living Dead Beat; Downfall; Deadnight Warrior.

v Click here for photos / review of Children of Bodom on the Unholy Alliance Tour

v here for photos / review of Children of Bodom from the first headlining tour

v here for photos / review of Children of Bodom on the third headlining tour

v Here for an photos / review with Through The Eyes of the Dead on the Sanctity of Brothers Tour

w/support CHIMAIRA and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, on select dates, (marked *); GOD FORBID marked +); and Through The Eyes of the Dead (marked ~)