Oh, what a night! I feel like 19 again.

CHILDREN OF BODOM celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut album “Something Wild”.

One of the first metal bands I ever listened to was CHILDREN OF BODOM. And in fact, it was the first melodic death metal band I fell in love with. I just discovered NIGHTWISH back in 2002 and it was around the time when “Hate Crew Deathroll” was released that I first listened to some CoB songs. I think the first song was actually ‘Downfall’ from “Hatebreeder” (funny video!) and then some songs from their debut. The first time I saw them live was 2005 at the Earthshaker Festival. I remember tons of gigs I visited after that, the highlight was three or four gigs of the same tour to write a tour report – that was when “Blooddrunk” was out, an album that many people didn’t like and of which I think that it was the last good CoB-album. The fact that I had a crush on their bass player Henkka, of course, intensified the band being my favorite boy group for a long time. But let’s talk about the concert now.

Metal-ophon? Wtf..?

I have never heard about the opening act ONI before – in short, it’s a metal band with a metallophone, which stands in front of the stage and the player rocks like hell. The xylophone sometimes sounds like a guitar, sometimes like, well, a xylophone. Maybe it is a xylophone, I don’t know. For those of you who wonder about the band name: Onis are Yokai, Japanese demons, that’s what the band is named after. Their performance is okay, but it’s clear that they are not used to play on big stages. The clean vocal parts are shaky, but all in all, ONI does a good job. The Canadians play some kind of technical/progressive death metal. Check them out if you’re looking for something special.

The second act – the original reason why I came here – is FOREVER STILL. The Danes signed to Nuclear Blast last summer and just before the gig, we had a nice chat with singer Maja Shining, which will be online within the next days (until then, enjoy our first interview with her and read our review for their album “Tied Down”). The band has released one album until now, so there hasn’t been that much to choose from, but if you have ever listened to the album, you know that it’s a killer! Maja and the boys rock like hell and win the audience over with hard ‘n’ heavy songs like ‘Scars’ and ‘Awake The Fire’. But the mid-tempo ballad ‘Tied Down’ is also well appreciated. There were some recognizable big fans in the audience, but if you look around, there are horns everywhere. FOREVER STILL prove that they were a good choice as support act and obviously made some new fans.

Trashed, lost and grown older.

It is Wednesday, the middle of the week, but the Capitol in Hanover, where the concert takes place is full. They haven’t opened the loge, but the space at the bottom is crowded. And at a CHILDREN OF BODOM concert, crowded means that there is one big mosh pit. That’s at least how it used to be five years ago – now there is a mosh pit, but not that big anymore. Which means, there are even more people headbanging (like me). I see some younger people, but most of the people in the crowd are my age or older (which means 29, actually). To worship their debut album, CoB has a “Something Wild” backdrop.They start their gig with the opener of the album, followed by the first single ‘Deadnight Warrior’.

During the whole concert, the newest songs they play are ‘Needled 24/7’ and ‘Angels Don’t Kill’ from “Hate Crew Deathroll”. I think the band doesn’t like their newer songs that much – they refuse to play them very often. Some years ago, they had a best-of-album and the only new song they played during that gigs was ‘Shovel Knockout’. But as an old fan, I truly enjoy that! With ‘In The Shadows’ there is a live premier and ‘Black Widow’ is played in Germany for the first time ever. Speaking about premieres: It is the first time ever, CHILDREN OF BODOM perform in Hanover.

What hasn’t changed is that a CoB gig always is one big party. People are dancing and shouting to songs like ‘Bodom After Midnight’, ‘Warheart’, ‘Hate Me!’ and ‘Downfall’. During some songs, I have to think about the music videos and how the guys looked back then. They haven’t changed that much after a specific moment – maybe when “Follow The Reaper” was out. Alexi looks fucked up, even though he quit drinking alcohol (otherwise he wouldn’t still be alive, I think…). The other three original members (including Henkka) look older, but only a bit. Their style hasn’t changed.

Traveling into the past.

Especially fans who have listened to the band right from the start, have a really good night. How often does one have the opportunity to go back in time and see a gig that could have happened 14 years ago? With this gig, CoB prov that they now are one of those bands, one has to know when listening to metal. Their songs are timeless and will inspire many, many bands in the future. They are a big name now, the next generation after acts like KREATOR, MANOWAR, ACCEPT, just to name a few. One could say, the third generation of metal. The 90s have become iconic (which means that I’m getting old).

‘Bed Of Razors’ and ‘The Nail’ are two more songs that the band hasn’t played for a long time. And with ‘Towards The Dead End’, CHILDREN OF BODOM end a really, really good concert. One thing I notice is that they play the songs in a different style – somehow rougher, a bit faster and not as clean as I know it from them. Maybe it was because the sound wasn’t that good at the venue, maybe CoB wanted to renew their songs somehow. I don’t know. As a result, the songs sound a bit similar. But nevertheless, if you are an old fan of CoB, attend this tour! Even if you don’t listen to them very often anymore (I hadn’t touched their CDs for months), do it! You won’t regret it! And if you just want to see one of the next bands, we will soon call “gods of metal”, you should go, too.

CHILDREN OF BODOM – Setlist

01. Deadnight Warrior
02. In the shadows
03. Needled 24/7
04. Black widow
05. Bodom after midnight
06. Warhear
07. Angels don’t kill
08. Red light in my eyes, part II
09. Hate me!
10. Downfall
11. Everytime I die
12. Lake Bodom
13. Bed of razors
14. Children of decadence
15. The nail
16. Towards dead end

Have you been at the tour? Will you go to one of their next shows? Would you like to see FOREVER STILL live? Let us know in the comments and enjoy some really old music videos!