EP REVIEW: Paint The Sky With Blood – Bodom After Midnight
The legacy that late CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alexi Laiho left to the metal community is perhaps too immense for words. Words describing him have been used extensively in the aftermath of his death: rockstar, guitar hero, shredder, wild child. But what comes to the foremost of the mind when thinking about Laiho is joy. Here was man who exuded fun and joy in every performance he gave and in every track he wrote. CHILDREN OF BODOM were never the deepest or darkest melodeath band out there, in fact most times they were quite the opposite. But that was the point. Laiho‘s love of the tongue in cheek made him both endearing to his fans and incredibly fun to watch. That, combined with his uncompromising and incredible talent as both a vocalist, and especially as a guitarist, made him a larger than life figurehead for the metal community. He represented the happiness and excitement that can spring from within when playing and listening to metal, and it’s a power that only heavy music can provide. The fantastical undertones of the soaring keyboards and leads of his material only reinforced how much sheer joy he could bring to the metal world, and it makes his loss at such a young age all the more tragic. He had so much more happiness to impart.
Nowhere is this more apparent than on the final recordings of Laiho‘s life. His BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT project was slated to be the next chapter in Laiho‘s life after CHILDREN OF BODOM called it a day in 2019. Now, with the release of the three track EP Paint The Sky With Blood, that next chapter and the potential that went with it can be seen in the light of day and serve as a final remembrance and celebration of a musician who gave so much of himself in his music. And after hearing it, it truly does paint itself (no pun intended) as a showcase of everything that made Alexi Laiho a special artist, and a tantalizing glimpse at what tragically could have been.
First track Paint The Sky With Blood is a natural extension of the last COB record, Hexed, and also a galloping, gallivanting ride with Laiho as he always was: at full power. It has that warmer tone that Hexed worked with, and right off the hop Laiho sounds as strong as ever in his vocal delivery. The trademark shrieking snarl hits as hard as always, though the guitar could have been raised just a hair in the mix, as the keyboards tend to overwhelm at times in the first half of the song. But right from the bridge, when the gothic-esque melody shared by the guitar and keyboards comes in, the song goes to a new level. It’s pure serotonin as Laiho makes the song soar with his furious melodies and sweet guitar harmonies. There’s a beautiful subtle guitar coming in underneath as the song winds down, and this track brings a smile to the face remembering how much fun he would have had playing this song onstage.
Payback’s A Bitch is a classic Laiho title, but the slightly weaker of the two original tracks. It’s a rock and roller from the instant it starts, and it feels like it fits right in with its title. It’s thrashier and more dissonant in its melody. It really represents the wilder side of what Alexi Laiho could do in his compositions. This track can only be described as melodeath-n-roll, and its solo reflects this with its more bluesy, improvisational nature, at times harkening back to older material. It should be noted that the band he assembled for this new project is top notch, including former CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist Daniel Freyberg. Everyone is on point instrumentally and playing with just as much of an uplifting spirit befitting the front man.
The final track, Where Dead Angels Lie, a cover of Swedish extreme metal band DISSECTION, is also brilliant. It starts doomy, showing yet another facet of Laiho‘s talents. But the track itself with its melody feels like the pits of hell are opening up. A dark and eerie backing chorus of voices complements Laiho‘s own demonic growls. It feels perfect for this song as the slow march of hell continues. What elevates this track truly are the guitar melodies he intersperses that add a sense of gravitas, epicness, and light to the piece, which is mirrored in the keyboard work on the song. It adds that sense of fantasy that always pervaded a lot of CHILDREN OF BODOM songs. The song has a gothic swagger, and by the time Laiho lets out his final, voice shredding growls, the sadness sets in about the tragedy of the reality of this release. We wish for more, but are thankful for this last parting gift from a gifted man.
The sorrow of Alexi Laiho‘s death hurts all the more when it feels that he was a musician that we took for granted, in a sense. His playing was always virtuosic and each release felt squarely a reflection of his spirit, but it often flew under the radar, especially in the later years of CHILDREN OF BODOM. There was a sense of, “Yeah, this is just what he does,” with each release. But now that he is gone, the full extent of just what he could do and what that did for aspiring guitar players and burgeoning metal fans looking to take their next step to heavier material comes into full view. He wasn’t just good at what he did. He was one of the greats, and any fan of Alexi Laiho and CHILDREN OF BODOM should listen to this EP, and so should every other fan of heavy music, just to get one last glimpse of a metal pioneer who knew just what it meant to live, write, and play with joy.
Rating: 8/10
Paint The Sky With Blood is set for release on April 23rd via Napalm Records.
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