Bodom After Midnight - Pain the Sky with Blood (2021)

After the shock disbandment of Children of Bodom late in 2019, Bodom After Midnight was set to be the ‘continuation’ of the band with Alexi Laiho and Daniel Freyberg, alongside drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (Paradise Lost), bassist Mitja Toivonen (ex-Santa Cruz). Unfortunately, we all know that Alexi is no longer with us and this EP, “Pain the Sky with Blood” serves as a nice posthumous release showcasing what could have been with this band.

Blasting away with the EP title track, we are suddenly brought back into the past, to the first three CoB albums. Alexi and company deliver one of the most engaging and signature songs they have released in a few years, with fierce vocals and insanely good guitar leads. This nostalgia filled piece serves as a stark reminder of Alexi’s musical brilliance.

The second track, “Payback's A Bitch” shows the same intensity and craftiness, but with more of a “Hate Crew Deathroll” edge thanks to the pounding guitars and tempo changes. The atmospheric keyboards are quite lush and when things accelerate into the more technical parts, particularly the blistering guitar leads, we can hear an interesting combination of newer and older CoB elements.

Closing this action packed EP, we have a masterful rendition of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie”, one of our favorite songs and definitely one of the best covers of this legendary track. Everything from the pace to the atmospherics is brilliant, wrapping up this EP with great style. It is undoubtedly that Metal will miss out on not having Alexi Laiho making any more music, however, “Pain the Sky with Blood” is a very nice send-off to one of the genre’s greatest artists.

Label: Napalm Records

Release: April 23rd, 2021

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Country: Finland