Hatebreeder

Hatebreeder is the second album on which CHILDREN OF BODOM unified sharp guitar riffs, fast drumming and flamboyantly moving keyboards. Even within the extreme speed and rough voice, there is impressive melody and guitar/keyboard interplay. It is a record that developed the debut’s direction into a more refined form. On “Warheart,” “Silent Night, Bodom Night” and “Downfall,” the songs always run forward, yet they are not mere chaos but hold an elation calculated to the details. Songs like “Bed Of Razors,” “Black Widow” and “Children Of Bodom” breathe the band’s full playing too. With Janne Wirman’s keyboards joining in earnest, the band’s musicality bloomed at a stroke. Bringing flamboyant technique into melodic death, it is an important early work.