Bodom After Midnight's 'Paint the Sky with Blood' - EP Review

I think it is fair to say that the metal world was collectively sad when the Finnish melodic death pioneers Children of Bodom decided to call it a day in 2019 after ten studio albums and countless live shows. While the band's form throughout the late 2000s and the 2010s was quite spotty, the band were still highly regarded. For many, including myself, Children of Bodom were a gateway band into the heavier side of metal. They were one of the first bands that I listened to that included extreme metal influences in their sound, but the fact that it was fused with neo-classical guitar melodies and power metal-esque keyboards made it palatable and really enjoyable. Children of Bodom, due to their easily-identifiable and high-energy sound, instantly became a big hit throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s; and the band are probably one of the most important melodic death metal acts in the genre's history - especially outside of the original Gothenburg scene of the 1990s. The band spawned a number of imitators, but none ever came close to knocking Children of Bodom off their perch. This is partly why their break-up caused such sadness, and even lapsed fans felt like a little piece of their past had passed along with the band. The reasons for the band's 2019 split are still not wholly known, but it became clear that part of it was down to differences of opinion between the band's singer, lead guitarist, main songwriter, and founder Alexi Laiho and the other three original members. Following a farewell tour however, Laiho made it clear that he was not done - and formed a new band with Children of Bodom's newest recruit Daniel Freyberg, who had been playing with Laiho since 2016. This band was announced to be called Bodom After Midnight, and it was clear that Laiho intended just to continue on the legacy that he had been creating since Children of Bodom debuted back in 1997 with Something Wild. Tragically however, this was not to be. I think it is fair to say that Laiho has always had a self-destructive side to him, and has struggled for a long time with alcoholism, but in December last year his demons finally caught up with him and he sadly died, aged just 41. Given that Laiho essentially was Children of Bodom, and by extension Bodom After Midnight, Bodom After Midnight and the larger Bodom legacy died with him - but the three-track EP Paint the Sky with Blood that was released last month paints a picture of what could have been. Paint the Sky with Blood consists of three songs, two originals and a cover, that Laiho and his new band recorded not long before his death. Despite the short runtime, the EP is nevertheless a poignant listen - and shows that Laiho was in rude form right to the end.

The EP opens with its title track, for which a video was also filmed not long before Laiho's death. For my money, Paint the Sky with Blood is the strongest of the three tracks here. Rather than continuing on the re-forged neo-classical sound that Children of Bodom reintroduced on their 2019 album Hexed (which I reviewed here), which turned out to be a pretty stellar final album for the band to finish with after a somewhat dodgy decade, Paint the Sky with Blood actually harks back to the more in-your-face, thrashy sound of albums like 2005's Are You Dead Yet?. The keyboards, provided here on a session basis by Vili Itäpelto (Seraphiel; Tracedawn), are much lower in the mix and less busy than they were on Hexed, with Paint the Sky with Blood instead focusing on the twin-guitar attack of Laiho and Freyberg. Nevertheless however, the song still feels like quintessential Children of Bodom. From the catchy opening guitar lead, past some frenetic blast beat drumming courtesy of Waltteri Väyrynen (Paradise Lost; Vallenfyre; Abhorrence), to a gang-vocal led chorus; Paint the Sky with Blood is sure to excite any fan of Laiho's songwriting. Considering how close the song was recorded to his death, he does not seem at all inhibited here. His raspy voice is as a strong as ever, and his fluid guitar solo is filled with his usual mix of melodic runs and chaotic shredding. Payback's a Bitch is similar, but perhaps a little less thrashy and more straight up heavy metal in style. Väyrynen's drums are less busy this time around, and the keyboards are given a little more space in the mix to help create strong atmosphere. The song is not as fast, but there are still plenty of classic Laiho tropes. Gang vocals are used liberally throughout, and the guitar riffs are as very hooky - with a little guitar and keyboard trade off rearing its head part way through that certainly recalls the band's neo-classical sound. Due to the somewhat slower pace, there is a lot of weight to be found here. Mitja Toivonen's (Santa Cruz) bass is quite high in the mix, his lower end grounding the song perfectly - which allows its natural heaviness to come through. The solo section is excellent too, with Laiho, Freyberg, and Itäpelto all showing off in a multi-part trade-off. The EP is rounded off with a cover of Where Dead Angels Lie by the defunct Swedish black metal band Dissection. I am not familiar with Dissection's work, so I had not heard the song before, but it fits seamlessly into Laiho's usual style. Children of Bodom's previous covers were usually kooky versions of pop and glam metal songs, but here Laiho seems to be going back to one of his influences. The song's slow pace is reminiscent of many Children of Bodom favourites of the past, and it seems that Dissection helped to sow the seed for the band's sound. In some ways it is a shame that Laiho's last work closes with a cover, but in some ways it seems like things coming full circle - as the song has traces of the Something Wild sound that started his career off in such fine form. If Hexed was the true end of the Children of Bodom legacy, then Paint the Sky with Blood is its coda. Based on the quality of the three songs here, the eventual Bodom After Midnight debut album would have probably been very enjoyable indeed, but sadly these three songs are all that the band recorded before Laiho's death. As mentioned earlier, this makes the EP a poignant listen - and it is a great final tribute to the man that these three songs can be enjoyed by his fans worldwide.

The EP was released on 23rd April 2021 via Napalm Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Paint the Sky with Blood.