After the foundation of Children Of Bodom back in 1993 in Finland (referring to the Lake Bodom murders), the band built a solid reputation as one of the best melodeath metal acts worldwide. They are recognize not only for catchy death metal but also for being technically proficient musicians. Alexi Laiho is the band lead, song writer, lead vocals and lead guitar. Other 3 members, , Janne Wirman (keyboards), Henkka T. Blacksmith (bass), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), have been with Laiho since the 1997 debut album. The second guitarist, Daniel Freyberg is the only new comer. I must admit after the first four albums I lost track of Children Of Bodom. But there are definitely some very good songs among their discography that keep coming back to my playlists (e.g. "Sixpounder").
Following 2015's Worship Chaos, which received mixed reviews, Children Of Bodom brings us their tenth studio album: Hexed. My first impression was very positive, it's a fun album to listen to. Most songs are good, there are just a couple of let downs, but overall it flows quite well. It's very dynamic covering different styles of their sound. All of it done in a concise and direct way, the record consists of 11 tracks in 45 minutes without any intros or transitions. The single "This Road" opens up at full blast and demonstrates what we will hear in the whole album: the guitars shine. We know that Children Of Bodom can have very prominent keyboards on the foreground, but Hexed is a guitar album. The guitar work is really well done in all fronts: the riffs, duos and solos. The use of power chords and fast picking is not overused, instead we have several melodies going all over the fretboard. Get your good headphones on for a full experience. At moments the band display some subtle but quite interesting classical/jazzy influences as in guitar and keys duo during the title track. There are also keyboard highlights, for example the solos in "Kick in a Spleen" and "Platitudes and Barren Words". There are other special moments like "Hecate's Nightmare" which has this King Diamond vibe and very nice grove with a catchy chorus. "Under Grass and Clover" with its power metal almost pop vibe can be a problem for some, but I actually enjoy it. For the most part, the drums throughout the album are quite straightforward. But the drumming and specially the drum solo in "Say Never Look Back" are a highlight (think Helloween's "Sole Survivor" intro). I wish we had more of it. "Knuckleduster" is an older song included as track 11 and last, but I'd have left it as a bonus track, specially because the original version is still better. Production wise, Hexed is dynamic and the mix is clear with good choices using the right and left speakers. But one can argue that it's too polished, I personally think of Children Of Bodom's music as a more raw and rough sound.
Overall Hexed is a good modern metal album that tries to bring back the aggressiveness and raw energy from the early work. While it doesn't accomplishes it in all moments, when it does, it works very well. If you are a long term fan of the band, this will work wonders for you as it's better than the last record or so. But for newcomers, I'd check the first 4 albums and then come back to Hexed. With that said, I enjoyed listening to this album and I'm looking forward to hear some of those songs live.
SCORE: 82/100
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