Relentless Reckless Forever (Out March 8th, 2011)

[Crzy_Aus]

Got to listen to the stuff, albeit w/o the cover. The songs I hated on radio release aside, the album sounds pretty good. Better than BD if at least for the sound; what was muddy and discouraging on the radio rips sounds very, very crisp and clear. Especially the bass, for w/e reason. Keys sound really weird and out-of place on occasion, but that's a usual Bodom thing. The tone on solos and stuff sounds good, though. Prominence of background orchestral keys is a big plus.

SKO is a lot more bearable than it was in the shitty rip for some reason. Still hate the intro+verse, but the rest of the song sort of makes up for it. PMS was a pleasant surprise - not nearly as cringe-worthy as I expected from the previews. Not my favourite, but good enough to sit through. Once again, not a fan of thrashy riffing for verse, but the rest is good. Didn't recognize the movie quote. RTHAB wasn't all that impressive, but then again I've never much appreciated CoB's "ballads".

So IMO a solid album, but not the "OMFG return to roots/HCDR" some people expected. It's definitely working off BD, just isn't as much of a shitfest. Now debating whether I should buy the whole album on a CD, or just buy NMF and Ugly on Amazon or sth and play those two to death. If the album grows on me enough in the next few days, should probably get all of it. That is, unless I can finally find that new Moonsorrow CD for a reasonable price in the US, higher priority

 

[The Bringer]

Huh my post about cooling it down was deleted.

 

[MetalAges]

^ if it quoted another post that was deleted then it got axed for that reason.

 

[The Bringer]

Ahhh yeah I guess I might have done that.

Well good job on cleaning it up. Was getting a little tired today reading all that. I don't care if we discuss the album now but let us not discuss the LEAK.

 

[UunexpectT]

I myself just found the album about an hour ago and listened to the whole thing. I'd have to disagree with Crzy Aus on this one, I think this is as close to older Bodom as we'll get nowadays. Blooddrunk was so far gone lost in a muddy-horrible quality mess while RRF has indeed brought back the melodies. The keyboards as a whole are more prominent, while lots of the riffs themselves are very melodic. Shovel Knockout was indeed a little weak with the intro-first verse (FUCK BLASTBEATS, They always make everything sound like shit), then it blew me away. As someone had said earlier, a total blast from the past.

I enjoyed Roundtrip quite a bit until the song picked up. The riffing was great, but the song began to lose it's direction that the intro had pointed it towards. Overall another good song. Pussyfoot was another good one, the riffing here was heavy, with the chorus keyboard melody again being one of the highlights of the song.

Reckless Relentless Forever was probably my favorite of the unheard tracks, while it was certainly relentless with the melodies. Throughout that entire song you just get hit with catchy riffing and keyboard work. Every other track I have already posted my opinion about somewhere on this forum, but for the sake of being organized: I do really like Ugly also, WIWI meh, COTN enjoyed it, Loved NMF, Liked Northpole. The only thing is, THERE WAS NO PARTY ALL THE TIME with the album. I need to hear that shit.

Overall, the tone and melodies of this album really pushed it far beyond Blooddrunk. I really do hear the HCDR vibe, while others may not. The scale used in Shovel Knockout closely resembles the ones used in Bodom Beach Terror for example, near the end of the song. They kind of give off the same aura. This will be getting many plays in my car during the coming months...Can't wait for my pre-order bundle.

 

[o1-deathbyorder]

This album surpassed my expectations. The first 3 tracks really fits together well both melody-wise & structural-wise. "Not my funeral" which atm is my favorite song on this album, has one of the best choruses since HCDR, and the solo is freaking unbelievable. "Shovel Knockout" is, even though the verse is a little mahh, a really fucking good song, with a keyboard solo that kills everything that Janne has ever preformed on a Cob album.

"Roundtrip" has the best 2 minutes of the album, the first, but the way it modulates into something more trashier, makes it IMO less memorable & awesome, still a bad-ass track. "Pussyfoot" really impressed me, specially from what we've heard from various samples. "RRF" is stil growing on me, there's not really that much which got stuck except the intro.

Even though "ugly" has alot of thrash elements, it really catches on.

"Cry of the Nihilst" has certain elements which rock (chours & key/guitar solo).

The album is really a solid, and is def. better than BD, just to bad that the 2 tracks at the end really puts a downer on things..

 

[EvilKatarn]

My opinion is that this album is disapointing.

And this album really is better than my expectations.

Oh ok what

By the way - Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest.

 

[UunexpectT]

Yeah I should have made it clearer my bad.

I meant that after having listened to the samples and Not my funeral on the radio I was expecting something better even though I knew WIWI which sucks and Cry and Ugly which were so so.
That explains the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest.

BUT it's better than the expectations I had after Blooddrunk.

That's what I meant, I hope it's clearer.
Sorry for the confusion. Won't EDIT though.

That's understandable, can't win 'em all over. Give it some more listens, I bet it'll grow on you a bit. They certainly are on the right path, as you said. Maybe the next one will be even better. I myself am satisfied till then.

 

[MadYarpen]

I love this album, to me it is absolutely great! Not any comeback to the roots or anything, I bet we would be all dissapointed by some fucking HCDR/FTR clone. I mean, you can hear this is COB, but the album is fresh, there are great melodies, solos and all this stuff - only I would say the band is going forward, not standing still, not going backwards.

There are some live killers on this album also - RRF besides the obvious will be awesome!

And as I expected, even WIWI which when listened alone may seem weak, on the album is not out of the place, and even if not the best, it is cool.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Any chances we'll see COBTV part 4 anytime soon? lol.

They didn't want to release before the album I think because it's got so much material from the studio. Kind of irrelevant now that you think of it... but it will be fun to have.

 

[ESA1996]

I think the album is pretty good.

It's better than AYDY, BD and SW (Yeah, at least half of you think i'm insane for disliking SW), but it's not as good as HB, FTR & HCDR.

Song order best to last:

-Shovel Knockout (Solo, Melodies),
Not My Funeral (Chorus)

-Roundtrip To Hell And Back (It's just pretty good from start to finish)

-Ugly (Solo, Melodies),
Cry Of The Nihilist (Chorus, the melody just before the solo),
Relentless Reckless Forever (It's good from start to finish)

-Northpole Throwdown (I just like it. It's fast and melodic)

-Pussyfoot Miss Suicide (Great verse otherwise it's not that good)

-WIWI (Okay Chorus otherwise it's pretty bad)

 

[EvilKatarn]

Janne is working on the new Warmen album so I think CoBTV4 is the last thing on his mind right now.

 

[kilon]

Better than BD (obviously). I'm one who actually likes AYDY, but this should be better. Now I think AYDY is still better because I know those songs a lot better.

I'll give a lengthier opinion later (I think), but for now this should do it.
SKO is the best song on the album. NMF is a grower for me. At first it was ok, but it gets better and better. The ending is pretty sudden though.
The rest of the first 5 songs are really good too. Plenty of real CoB vibes despite it being drastically different.
Least favourite song might be COTN and WIWI. WIWI because of a good chorus, but that's it. COTN because of the good break and last time of the chorus, but I hate the riffs.
as for NPTD, that really sounds like an expirimental track that requires a lot of time to get used to.

 

[sleeper666]

 

[The Bringer]

Better than BD (obviously). I'm one who actually likes AYDY, but this should be better. Now I think AYDY is still better because I know those songs a lot better.

And see what happens in a year once you've had that long to listen to the album and get to know the songs.

 

[o1-deathbyorder]

"For fans of: DragonForce, Straping young lad" ??? WTF

 

[The Bringer]

Honestly it feels like it is 2003 again listening to this album. I am getting the exact same vibe as listening to HCDR for the first time. RtHaB reminds me of a MUCH BETTER Sixpounder. I haven't heard anything else new yet. A little afraid since I like the released songs so much I don't want to hear what the band hid from us.

 

[The Bringer]

"For fans of: DragonForce, Straping young lad" ??? WTF

I cannot think of a band that would fit there "for fans of...". It may be a terrible clique but I cannot think of a band that Bodom sounds like. The only bands that come to mind are less known than Bodom.

 

[kilon]

And see what happens in a year once you've had that long to listen to the album and get to know the songs.

that's what I was aiming at. I see lots of growing potential for RRF.

 

[o1-deathbyorder]

I cannot think of a band that would fit there "for fans of...". It may be a terrible clique but I cannot think of a band that Bodom sounds like. The only bands that come to mind are less known than Bodom.

True. The only thing which comes to mind, doesn't sound that bodom-ish but: Norther, new Arsis.. :?