Live Reviews : Children of Bodom, Emergency Gate and Eye of the Enemy @ Hi-Fi, Sydney 09/05/2014

Friday night was one I had been waiting for eagerly, with one of the greatest metal bands of all time coming back to our shores. The two supporting acts were also bands that I was keen to check out live and having heard some of their music, I knew it was going to be a memorable night! Heading to the Hi-Fi, I got there in time because 5 minutes later, the line to enter was snaking all the way to the back with fans adorning their favourite Children Of Bodom apparel.

Children of Bodom Australian Tour 2014

There was a definite sense of excitement in the air and you could just feel that it was going to be one heck of a night!  Doors opened just before the first band came on stage, who kicked off their set in full speed just a few minutes after we got in. Emergency Gate from Germany, have the greatest enthusiasm and energy I have ever seen. I’m not exaggerating when I say that hardly two minutes into their set and people were already headbanging and jumping around, having the time of their lives. A little insight into the music of this six piece outfit: it’s melodic death metal meets metalcore with a very In Flames yet a slightly thrashy feel to their music. They make good use of the skills of keytarist Daniel Schmidle, every track bursting with an undeniable soothing symphony in between main man Matthis Kupka’s fantastic vocals and the drumming prowess of Roman Lutz.

Dressed in all white, Kupka emerged on stage a few minutes after his band mates, growling in greetings to the crowd and almost instantly instigated a madhouse of metalheads going insane. What really struck me about him was the way he casually switched from cleans to intense, deep growls and screams, making it seem like child’s play. Again, the first couple of songs of their set, I felt the sound wasn’t the greatest, as you couldn’t’ really make out the singing, some parts being quite muffled. But that seemed to ease up later on in the set, the band performing tracks like ‘Story Of A Psychopath’ and ‘Revolution’ with so much passion and compelling energy you could feel it surge through your veins. My favourite track of the set was probably ‘Moshpit’, with Kupka yelling “LET’S GET THIS MOSHPIT STARTED” in a very metal DJ sort of fashion. Bassist Mario Lochert’s guitar string broke midway but that didn’t stop him from continually shredding, pounding out some brutal and heavy metalcore riffs along with the guitarists Vlad Doose and Udo Simon. It was awesome to watch all four of them in a single line, play their respective instruments and then suddenly switch places while maintaining the same pace throughout. The whole band really worked well together, and have an awesome stage presence, all of them moving up and down the stage constantly, headbanging and just generally loving what they do. Definitely a band you want to check out, because they really are in a different league of their own!

The night seemed to pass by rapidly, with a quick changeover before Eye Of The Enemy who were the supports for Bodom on all three shows, came on stage and brutalized everything and everyone there. Wearing an awesome Led Zep tee, frontman, Julian Detar had the crowd in his grip the whole time as did his deathly vocals. The evil stomps of the guitars and the thunderous drums fuelled a mini mosh pit and lots of windmilling. “What’s up Sydney? It’s been a while since we’ve been here because we’ve been stuck in a tiny recording room” said Detar, as the band went on to put on a show that was packed with some strong and dynamic music. Detar’s deep and murderous vocals were a definite highlight, the band belting out some insane tracks from their latest album ‘The Vengeance Paradox’ , one of my favourite tracks being ‘the Justification’. This band clearly had a pretty huge fan base, given the response of the crowd to the band’s performance. Lots of groove, frenzied drumming and extremely catchy rhythms and riffs would just about sum up the style of this Melbourne band. Having just recently listened to their new album, watching them live, they were pretty flawless and I really enjoyed their set but sadly it was cut short given the initial delay and in between sound set up. Nonetheless, Eye Of The Enemy made their presence felt with their massive sound, definitely doing us Aussies proud for scoring the supporting slot for the Finnish legends Bodom.

During the break, something fun and extremely spontaneous happened! You know flash mobs that catch you unaware? Well this was a proper metal musical flash mob. Sound guy at the Hi-Fi has some pretty ace taste in music, and as the familiar tunes of Pantera’s classic ‘Walk’ rang out, the ENTIRE crowd in the venue burst into a metallic chorus of “RESPECT, WALK”. It took me a few seconds to actually tune in to the song because literally everyone there was singing and it was honestly one of the coolest things Ive ever seen and been a part of!

Talk about an eventful intermission!  After what seemed like an eternity, entering like they were being pushed by an unseen force, Children Of Bodom powered their way on stage, to the raging cheers and applause of the fans and it was clear at that very moment, their set was going to be one that would leave you picking your jaw up off the floor. Opening track ‘Sixpounder’ lived up to it’s name as it literally pounded the life out of my ear drums. The brutally majestic frontman Alexi Laiho, commands the utmost respect and he got that and more! “You guys are f***ing awesome! It’s so great to be back here!” he said in the most grateful and excited way possible, before surging into the next tracks ‘Living Dead Beat’ and ‘Bodom Beach Terror’.

Bodom didn’t seem to need a breather, especially guitarists Henkka Seppala whose brilliant bass work set out the signature raging pace of their music and Roope Latvala who was shredding at relentless and abnormal speeds. But leading the collective guitar assault was the guitar genius himself Alexi Laiho, who I couldn’t stop gawking at every time he ripped out his own solos or played with his guitar upright.

The Finnish metallers did good with the night’s set covering at least one or two tracks from most of their albums. As I was hoping there were more than a couple of songs from ‘Follow The Reaper’ such as ‘Bodom After Midnight’, ‘Everytime I Die’ and ‘Hate Me!’. but special love was also given to ‘Hatebreeder’ and of course ‘Halo Of Blood’, this tour being in support of the 2013 release. Post the psyched out mega moshpit that opened up for the infamous banger ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’, Alexi said “ We’re gonna take you back to 1997”, gracing us with the classic ‘Lake Bodom’ from their very first album! It’s hard to point out to specific moments during the night because in all honesty, the whole time was just one of incessant moshing, jumping and people not giving two shits about injuring themselves. Alexi and his band mates really made an effort to interact with the crowd, and really, that’s one of the highlights when you’re a crazed fan of one of the best metal bands.

Janne Wirman on keys is an absolute charmer and worked his magic throughout providing some beautiful and rich harmonies in perfect sync with Alexii’s beastly vocals, Roope Latvala’s maddening guitar solos and . He also seemed to be the cheekiest of the bunch, casually walking around the stage, twirling his band mate’s drum sticks and the two of them engaging in a quick game of throw-and-catch while the awesome Jaska Raatikainen was still double bassing his way to glory. It was nothing but fascinating to watch Jaane effortlessly play his instrument, providing some of the ‘key’ parts of Bodom’s music which echoed gorgeous melodic passages through the air of the Hi Fi, an element in their music which really make the band stand out.‘Downfall’ which absolutely slayed everyone and everything, was the final track with Laiho saying that this was their last one for the night and thanked the Sydney fans for being awesome, something he seemed to do after almost every track, which I thought was rather humble and cool!

Seemingly calling it a night, only to return with a mind-numbing encore of the awesome ‘In Your Face’, which got the whole crowd psyched all over again, the Hi Fi but a blur of headbangers and flailing limbs. There was so much enthusiasm emanating from the Finnish metallers, you couldn’t help but smile and appreciate that even after 20  odd years, they perform like it’s their first and last ever gig, giving the show everything they’ve got. With the ripping leads of Alexi captivating the adoring fans, coupled with the beautiful heavy harmonies that Bodom are renowned for, it was time to bid farewell. The intriguing Finnish frontman thanked the crowds once again for coming out to see them, “ You guys are f***ing amazing, thank you so much!” he screamed only to be met with more cheers and yells of sheer elation.

Children Of Bodom are just one of those bands that you inevitably came across when you were in your awkward teen phase figuring out the ways of metal and they were in fact one of the metal bands I grew up listening to. But seeing them live? Whole different scenario! They have an incredibly powerful stage presence that culminates their fantastic melodeath ingenuity along with their upbeat and charismatic persona, and as far as I could see , there wasn’t a single person who was standing still! It’s amazing how one band can pull together so many people and Children Of Bodom from the effing North Pole as Alexi referred to his homeland, absolutely blew me away with their performance. The set seemed to go by in a flash and before I knew it, I was leaving the venue with the biggest grin on my face, and yet another night that will never be forgotten!

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