A continuation from 'Halo of Blood' (2013), but the creativity lacking and songs seemed lumped together with no real vibe that makes it a valuable possession in their discography. With exceptions, they just seem to be tired of making any memorable music. Each album to me should be a progression from the past. COB should be making albums that are historic like they used to be. A spark and a joy to listen to. Not just riffs that go nowhere, monotonous vocals, symphonic keyboards which to me on here are annoying, but the goal should show more maturely than this one has to offer. They never were a band that weren't glorified because of their lyrics, they were more like guitars by Alexi Laiho mainly that were cutting edge.

I'd say they did put out a bunch of crap albums though, 'Blooddrunk' (2008) being one of them, but I think this one is if not equal to that one or worse. There's no real concept to this record, it's just something that wasn't thought out well. It was mere stagnation. Like "let's stay stuck, but don't let our fans know. Let them keep buying our albums." That might be Alexi's attitude, it just is portrayed in these albums he keeps making with these musicians that are cast in the line-up who care only about their royalties. That might sound cynical, it's just how I view them making mediocre albums. If you're a melodic metal band, at least write something that one one has ever thought of. Sure there's classical music influence on every one of theirs, this one is just ordinary. You might say "boring" or that it just lacks balls to it.

The tone of the guitars were very thrash metal oriented along with melodic, but the music or compilations weren't striking. They couldn't hold a good tune and make it sound catchy. It was like having another attitude like "let's just make a record, throw out some riffs and lump all into one because Bodom fans will like it." To me, that seemed like Alexi's attitude. It should be making good music because "we like it", not our fans. That's kind of why I stopped listening to Opeth. Another good band gone to hell because Mikael plays what he thinks his fans like to hear, not them.

Sad to say, with these new albums from COB, I'd conclude that the last 2-3 have me depressed over them. It just seems like talent wasted away. I would no longer say Alexi is an iconic guitarist and as for cover songs, forget it!

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
02/21/2016 00:12