What's with the pics??
RRF is just so "random" and atmosphereless the songs feel like garbage to me, I can't explain it technically, but I don't care about a guitar tone if the songwriting doesn't strike me. RRF is the farthest away from old COB. The only that in it that ever reminded of the old COB was the SKO best fragments recorded with a mobile phone. The album made Blooddrunk feel like better songwriting to me, with parts that seem to link to each other, unlike on RRF... AYDY of course has some majestic songs with the epic aura that's since been rare.
No. Simply no. Random (which I'm gonna asume the songs not sounding similar, which I don't see how could be a bad thing but whatever) only applies to WIWI, which nobody knows where it came from, and perhaps NPT, the rest fit pretty good together imo. BD on the other hand has too many fillers or "meh" songs in it and I don't understand how you don't hate it since it's the epitome of the "riffing as base, less melody, more american/LOG (which was apparently their crime some years ago, being friends with them and allegedly sounding like them, which they never did anyways)". AYD we agree that it was bashed beyond reason and just for being the new album and having drop C guitars, when the actual songs kicked some ass generally (besides the utterly disappointing guitar tone).
Which brings me to...
How the hell you can say that RRF is the farest away from old Bodom? So BD is closer to HB or FTR with it completely different guitar tone and album production, completely other songwriting and extremely lack of good solos? RRF has a closer tone to the older albums because it's fucking clean, the solos are partly better and also closer to HB solos. Technically you can only compare HB with FTR because both are on the same level. HCDR has a slightly improved technique, AYDY has also an improved technique (mostly because of all those drop C songs), BD is a huge step back and RRF is superior comparing to the older albums.
This. Exactly this.
For me the most epic Alexi guitar will always be that yellow-black Jackson RR24 Wild Child guitar.
Well, for me the old COB was technical enough... I think there was more lead melodies and a more simple but groovy rhythm guitar. Think of SNBN or Children Of Decadence. I just love it, I'm not bothered by the rhythm guitar being technically more simple. Also, I wouldn't mind it being more complex, but it's not necessary, especially if it comes with the songs not being as sexy anymore.
Yes, the Wildchild guitar was awesome, but the ESPs are not worse by any means.
On the technicality of the albums, that is not objective, it's not on how you feel it or not. Something is technical or it's not. It's not technical to you and not technical to me. Technique is meassurable. "Feeling" or "atmosphere" is not, therefore why you get called crazy sometimes, but technique actually is, and from a technical standpoint the last 3 albums are much more elaborated than the first 4, like it or not. Sexy, well, that goes beyond what I'll care to argue, as long as you don't lecture us on how sexy their song has to be (remember that is for you, and that the crazier it goes the more people dissagree with you).
I didn't say Marshall is bad, I said that every time I've seen Alexi use one he gets a crappy tone out of it. I.E. Blooddrunk, all those young guitar videos and even live. I rather prefer the old Lee Jackson setup, or his new ENGL setup.
Don't take the YG videos as sample, that's usually just guitar through amp (no effects or pedals whatsoever, and definitely not Alexi's own, only on the first one a bit, the Rock House one with the pink guitar), and recorded with an ambience mic or straight, not album like tone. I agree they got it wrong in Blooddrunk, but it was the mix, not the actual guitar tone. What you could hear in the COBTV episodes sounded pretty good, I don't know what they did to it later on.
When I listen to RRF it makes me see almost nothing. Just orange colour. No atmosphere.
Blooddrunk has many sequences which make me see things. Such as a forest with gleaming eyes in Hellhounds On My Trail, especially during the intro and the weird melodic interlude before the solos. A claustrophobic dark room in One Day You Will Cry. Some very high place such as a tower top in Banned from Heaven.
Well I think that's pretty much it. Otherwise there's a lot of blackness to it.
I think it just pisses you off that RRF doesn't sound depressive and dark, which I will agree with you that it quite doesn't, at least not as BD or some other albums may have felt, but that's called evolution, and probably a byproduct of their current lives, and it takes nothing away from the music which is actually pretty good, elaborate, melodic and yes, atmospheric, even if you don't like that kind of atmosphere. A ton more than 70% of BD mind you. Everybody lambasted WIWI, but BD (the song) is pretty damn monotonous too, and the fast technical breakdown/riff is only that, techincal, I don't see anything to it, only the ending melody saves it for me. Not even the solos were inspired. Same goes for Lobodomy, DWEDFN and to a lesser extent RKM, although it'd have made more sense as a Kyllähullut song imo
Without SPFTD and BFH, BD (the album) would've been thrashed. HOMT and ODYC are cool to a certain degree, but if they had been the standout on the album, well, the bashing it took would've been much worse. TMR was nice, but the cleaner compilation version was better (yes, at first the stronger guitar tone was a welcome change since it was way too quiet there, but after two listens and realizing how unclear and perhaps too overdriven it is the old version starts sounding a lot better).
Just like RRF. Okay, it has ONE withering tree.
