It has been three long years since Children of Bodom first graced our shores and played to a string of sold-out venues across Australia that saw many fans left out in the cold. This time around they had bigger venues and more dates, but had we missed the chance to see these Finnish genre-bending metallers at the top of the game?
Some questionable choices on their most recent releases and an unfortunate bowling accident that left main-man Alexi Laiho sidelined for the first half of 2007 with a broken shoulder, left some niggling doubts about Children of Bodom’s live set.
As the lights went down for the main act and the anticipation of the chanting crowd rose, set opener Sixpounder removed any doubt in my mind of the quality of the Bodom live show. Over the last 15 years, Children of Bodom have worked hard to become one of the biggest metal bands in the world and it shows through in their performance. These guys kill. The 90-minute set was a good mix of new material and classic Bodom songs , leaving old and new fans alike panting for breath and hungry for more.
Four tracks from their most recent and sixth studio album,Blooddrunk were included on the set list to a surprisingly positive crowd reaction. But it was obvious that the crowd favourites came from the earlier albums. Songs like Silent Night, Bodom Night, Follow the Reaper, Needled 24/7 and Mask of Sanity had me praying that the Palace could stand the force of the pounding, thrashing mosh pit.
After a short respite the Bodom boys returned to the stage with the anthem-like Hate Crew Deathroll, and after a short cover of Rihanna’s Umbrella finished the set with the Hatebreeder single Downfall. By the end of the night, any questions of Children of Bodom’s relevance in modern metal were well and truly forgotten.
