Crapbreeder
Written: Nov 30 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very few here and there
Cons: Very overrated and sterile
The Bottom Line: Children of Bodom do live up to the children bit in their name.
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| markendust90's Full Review: Hatebreeder by Children Of Bodom |
Not only is this a mediocre album but it is one of the most overrated albums of all time in metal. Finland's Children of Bodom are quite loved and highly hailed by many a metal head. However, I do not love them. In fact, I don't even like them. My older brother and his friends are on fire about this band. I guess it was sort of a mini-peer pressure deal as I eventually bought Hatebreeder which was a favorite of their's.
The hype around it was not to be believed and I wish I never bought into it. I never do that anymore. I won't deny that the band members are very talented on their respective instruments but talent alone does not make a band good. These guys turned out to be damn boring instead. Neo-classical guitar leads, frantic drumming, shrill screams, eerie and atmospheric keyboard melodies, and unconventional rhythms are abound here but there are bands who do it much better than these guys and have done it way before them.
It can't be denied that Alexi Laiho and Alexander Kuoppala are talented, especially with all the neo-classical guitar leads and polyrhythmic riffage. But most of the riffs are quite forgettable. The middle part of "Black Widow" has the guitarists play off eachother in an unique rhythm but it lasts for a short time. "Bed of Razors" sounds like it could burst off into snarling and blazing riffs at any minute but it never comes. I don't mind slow or mid-paced songs but this song just feels like it could morph into a killer thrashy song but it just never happens. The solo in "Warheart" is quite good but it is pretty much the only guitar lead on the album that catches my attention. Elsewhere, Alexi just sounds like he is stealing Iron Maiden and Yngwie Malmsteen riffs or still noodling around in the studio.
He is terrible as a vocalist as well. His screams get trite since they almost always use the same pitch. He trounds to sound evil but he looks like a reject from the Rocky Horror Picture Show from the pictures I've seen of him. His growls sound awkward and really out of place to the point of hilarity. An example would be "Towards Dead End" with that "I'm alo-hone-hone!". Really pathetic and laughable.
While this album is certainly not meant to impress the listener with lyrics as this leans more to instrumental qualities, the lyrics are very sh*tty that they need to be read to know how horrible they are. This guy seriously has to be joking. This Alexi fellow sounds so f*cking pathetic and stupid.
"Fire - fire is into turning in my heart!
Traitor - hate your face, obey or you're gonna die!
Murder - praying on my knee, I saw her near, come here!
Oh yeah, I'll come back to you when I'm dead!"
"Kill me, hurt me, f*ck me, rape me, you won't have me!"
"I'm an animal, better set me free!"
HAHAHAHAHA!!! Are you trying to be intimidating or an idiot? This on the level of Fred Durst's and Chamillionaire's writing.
Another problem is the drumming. Jaska Raatikainen's drumming is way too high in the mix and it has a tinny tone which makes it sound a bit painful. Because of the focus on rapid speed, hardly any interesting fills or rhythms are developed nor are any other kind of influences that I can detect are placed in. Not only that, the drumming buries Alexander's rhythm guitar a bit, which makes the songs sound boring.
"Downfall" has a good atmospheric intro with the keyboards and is the best part of the song but after its later appearance in the middle, it falls into obscurity and is never heard again. The keyboardist also needs to lay off the orchestra hits which become overwrought and combined with the production doesn't make it better. The albums production is very polished which gives it a cold and sterile feeling that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't mind polished productions but when it becomes too clear, it sounds fake and loses a lot of feeling, like it was produced by a machine instead of the player's emotions.
This album is pure mediocrity and fan boy giggled. Even the good parts I don't have the patience to listen to anymore since they are blocked both in the front and back by doggerel. Avoid this. There were better albums released in 1999 and they are sadly underrated while this album gets praised way too much. Testament's The Gathering, Sodom's Code Red, Amorphis'es Tuonela (Another band from Finland who are much better), Pro-Pain's Act of God, Skinlab's Disembody: The New Flesh, and even Machine Head's The Burning Red eclipse this album. The underdog albums are always the better ones, with some exceptions though Hatebreeder is not one of those exceptions.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
markendust90
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Member: Mark Hodges
Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 13 members
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