Children Of Bodom @ Capitol,Perth (6/11/11)

Thu 10th Nov, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Children Of Bodom grow up so fast. It seems like only yesterday the young Fins were forcing genre definitions to expand beyond black and death metal; now they are celebrating the release of their eighth studio album Relentless Reckless Forever with “The Ugly World Tour”. And, thanks to the undying efforts of Soundworks Touring, the November 6th stop was Club Capitol, Perth, Australia.

When the doors opened 20 minutes after the ticketed time the slightly disgruntled payers shuffled in to the welcoming sounds of Empires Laid Waste. With a solid wall of classic death metal sounds made melodic, but maintaining brutality, they made for a pleasantly digestible way to start the night. Playing songs from their EP to be released next January entitled With The Tide Comes Destruction; the five piece punched out a furious, double kick driven set – the coolly titled Banished to the Waste Land a great example of the balance they hold between fury and melody. While probably not breaking much new ground in death metal, yet, Empires Laid Waste certainly have a solid foundation to build on.

Taking a much more risky approach, and dividing the crowd’s opinion as a result, were Perth boys (and girl) Voyager . With an international presence of their own, the national support for the tour made sure Children Of Bodom are going to have to be on their toes to match it with some of the most well polished metal to come out of Australia in recent years.

The division in the crowd was almost palpable from the moment keytar laden Daniel “Danny” Estrin opened his mouth and the vocals came out oh so clean. Their stage presence contradicts the metal stereotypes, gone are the dour demeanors to be replaced with arguably overly unrestrained joy. While the riffs at times can be as heavy and dark as the night itself, they are often tempered with grandiose, melodic passages and counterpointed with Estrin’s clear and uplifting vocals. While some audience members were put off by the benign positivity and Bieberesque hair flicks; many others were clearly stunned by their command of their craft. No matter what one’s stance it was undeniable that Voyager are very good at what they do. And even the most hardened prog sceptic couldn’t stifle a smile at some point while they pumped out their signature medley. The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Theme just doesn’t get enough play at metal concerts these days…

A seemingly inordinately long time after Children of Bodom’s roadies had completed their soundchecks and laid out pre-measured portions of beer in strategic positions; the lights were dimmed all but for a blinding wash of fluorescent green pumping rhythmically over the audience. The chants of “Bodom! Bodom!” which had grown to sound ever increasingly like “boredom, boredom” were finally answered when frontman Alexi Laiho strolled out, nonchalantly, and laid his made-up eyes upon his willing subjects.

Laiho then set about laying down fretboard wandering riff after riff, in constant tête-à-tête with the sublime skills of Janne Wirman on keys. Their intricate duelling, coupled with the gang vocalised choruses that have become a mainstay in Children of Bodom’s later work, encourage a healthy response that melds appreciation with participation.
You could join in on tracks such as Are You Dead Yet?, Hate Me! and In Your Face, as they provide an opportunity to hurl all sorts of obscenities and rhetoric at the sky. Or sit back in admiration of the band’s fine musical weavery when they grace us with a medley of some of their earlier work, a delightful blend of Children of Bodom (the song) and Deadnight Warrior.

Laiho evidently takes his product seriously, grimacing at a missed beat as the band were coming out of the medley, but not so serious that he can’t enjoy a beer while producing it. Serious enough though, that his game-face remains on at all times, barely cracking a smile in juxtaposition to the earlier gleeful antics of Voyager. Laiho is not so serious though, it must be mentioned, that he can’t have a laugh as Wirman points out a couple of their more elderly lady fans enjoying the music from upon the upper level, encouraging them to stand up and directing the lighting guys to put the spotlight on them, to whit the crowd responds with a standing ovation, albeit they were already in an upright position.

Club Capitol is no concert hall and there were certain dead spots audiowise around the venue. But with some classy maneuvering (generally closer to the sound desk, being careful to avoid being sucked in to the swirling moshpit) one could hear every note, whether it be Wirman’s keys, Laiho’s shreddery or that of his counterpart Roope Latvala. Though Latvala’s guitar rests awkwardly on his swollen belly the sounds he gets out of it fit comfortably into the sonic mix and he joins in vocally on the chorus of the newer songs, helping some of the older pundits with the lyrics as he sings along to the title track of Relentless Restless Forever and the album opener Not My Funeral, harnessing all the powers of his monthly appropriate moustache (support mens health) to provide him with the beer-swilling, back-up vocalling energy he needs.

Later, Laiho leads a singalong to the slower, by comparison, Angels Don’t Kill as fellow founder Jaska Raatikainen pounds out a slow rhythm on his crisply battered drumkit. The success of the singalong was limited, probably being outshone by the impromptu singalongs that had been performed earlier to the likes of Warheart and Bodom after Midnight – Laiho not afraid to work his band name into a song title like a long haired Eminem.

Just when it seemed like things were winding down and everyone had found their preferred balance between viewing, listening and moshing; Children Of Bodom brought it on home with one last barnstorming ending. As they belted out their standard set closer Hate Crew Deathroll the moshpit expanded to engulf passers by, viewing and listening positions thrown akimbo, before spewing it’s contents onto the streets as it all, abruptly, ended.