Children of Bodom is a band I came across when I was about 19 or 20, while still living in Toronto in the early millennium. At the time, power metal was lost on me, given my early metal proclivities for heavier vocals and harsh counter-melodic tri-tones. I’ve seen the band live on numerous occasions over the years on different bills (such as Dimmu Borgir, Nevermore, and Hypocrisy in 2003), and my favourite period for their sound would have to be at about that point in time with «Hatecrew Deathroll», given the nostalgia of youth.
That said, I was most eager to be at the gig on Friday in order to check out Denver, Colorado based thrashers Havok on the rather intimate old-world theatre stage of the Corona Virgin Mobile Theatre. I’ve seen Havok live on a few occasions, most recently at Heavy Montreal 2015. A festival stage is great fun, but there is always a different vibe to an indoor show that can’t mutually compare to the outdoor woodsy jive of Parc Jean Drapeau in the summertime.
Montreal power prog outfit Elderoth got cut from the bill at the eleventh hour (somewhat mysteriously), as front man Collin McGee posted in the Facebook event page that the band would no longer be opening the show due to “technical” issues. Diplomacy prevented him from elaborating further, but he did assure us that the boys would be playing their own show very soon. We’ll just have to stay tuned to see how this newest formation of the band woos us at a later date. Their new album «Mystic» is streaming on Bandcamp, and I highly recommend that progressive metal fans out there check it out. Beautiful stuff!
I arrived just in time for the commencement of Havok’s set, knowing that they’d be taking Elderoth’s 8pm set time, and that this would be a strangely early show for a Friday night in Montreal.
I made it through the doors as «Point of No Return» (from the likewise-titled 2012 EP) began blaring over the PA. I skipped the coat check line and busted my ass to the lower concert floor in the nick of time. The group would play «From the Cradle to the Grave» off the same EP a few songs into their set.
The audience up front was full of mainly millennial guys, all pumped up and ready to thrash their asses off. There was obviously a large overflow of people there to see the power headliners, so it was a fun crossover audience.
I’d banged up my already-injured knee at the Archgoat show the week prior, so I was forced to stare longingly at the pit for the duration of the set, when I was not transfixed by the captivating stage presence this thrashtastic ensemble possesses.
Bassist Nick Schendzielos had the raddest mofo of a setup ever, his low-end axe alight with green glowing LEDs along the fret. He also basically gave zero fucks and jumped down into the audience to make his way through the mosh pit and up to the back mezzanine bar area of the club. I love seeing showmanship of that calibre, so it was a heady set to be sure.
Havok played several songs from 2011’s fan favourite «Time is Up», including the title track, along with «Fatal Intervention», «No Amnesty», «Covering Fire», «Scumbag in Disguise», and «D.O.A.». Surprisingly, only the title track was played off their most recent release, 2013’s «Unnatural Selection». Vocalist and guitarist David Sanchez had some great political banter between songs, where he motivated fans to think for themselves, and to not allow the “man” to dictate our beliefs and life direction. Words to live by!
Now, back to Finnish ensemble Children of Bodom, which many people in my generation now mockingly call «Children of Boredom». Why did they get this name, after so many of us lovingly attended so many of their concerts as youth? They have a winning formula that works well for each succeeding generation of fan, just as Havok plays no holds barred traditional thrash metal that isn’t reinventing the wheel. I guess it comes down to scratching that itch.
Many folks I talk to dislike Children of Bodom these days because they feel the band can never relive the glory days of its heavier early albums. I personally feel that people grow and change or their tastes do, and they no longer get the same thrill out of hearing that new In Flames album or disc of similar ilk. I am also tired of the diddly-diddle of their keyboard sound. I just am.
I was standing in the mezzanine by this time, thoroughly sated after Havok’s set, and decided to move back down to the lower level to hopefully improve the sound quality, which I found to be pretty washy, as though it was set to play in a much larger room (which isn’t abnormal for the band). Moving down closer to the stage did not improve the sound quality, however.
I’m not saying the sound guy didn’t do a good job. I’m saying that the sound was just too big, and the already amazing acoustics of the old live theatre were probably not accurately taken into account. I moved back to the upper level for the rest of the set.
The crowd was much more satisfied than I was, which was apparent by the packed room, and the number of people moshing and fist pumping into the air.
The group began with the crowd pleaser «Are You Dead Yet?», then moved into «In Your Face» from their «Are You Dead Yet?» 2005 release. They then moved on to newer fare, «Morrigan» off 2015’s «I Worship Chaos». This was a popular tune, given many in the audience probably onboarded as CoB fans after the newest album (which tends to be a trend with bigger underground acts with several album releases).
There were a good more 11 songs played, such as «Silent Night, Bodom Night» (off «Hatebreeder», 1999), and «Angels Don’t Kill», from my own nostalgic fave «Hatecrew Deathroll» (2003).
The Finns came back out for a two song encore of «Lake Bodom» from their premiere album, 1997’s «Something Wild», which was very well-received by the crowd, and finished up with «Downfall», also off «Hatebreeder».
All in all, I remain unmoved by my current opinion of Children of Bodom, and feel my musical tastes have shifted significantly enough that the band’s sound does nothing much for me. I can say wholeheartedly though that they still get a great reception from each successive generation of fan, and these guys are a seemingly hardworking bunch of pro musicians.
The overall gig gets a 7 out of 10 from this chickadee, namely for the performance that Havok wreaked on us, but also because no matter what anyone may say, Children of Bodom can still sell out a venue, and still knows how to rock.
–Jenny King
