I think I heard HCDR and Are You Dead Yet?. I gave up on them shortly after my ears started bleeding, but if you say that this album has considerably better vocals, I might give it a whirl when I get a chance.
AYDY and HCDR are Bodom's two worst albums. I'd probably check out Hatebreeder first, his vocals are actually, dare I say, good on that one. They're okay on FTR too, but you can hear the transition towards the later vocal style somewhat.