Children Of Bodom / Soilwork / Shadows Fall
2 May 2003
Mean Fiddler, London

The Mean Fiddler is unsurprisingly packed out early for tonight`s very strong line-up. Shadows Fall have been getting great write-ups in all the UK metal press and it`s no surprise based upon this performance. Quite frankly it felt like I`d entered a time warp to the late 80s and I`m delighted to report Thrash is officially back. Very slowly US hardcore bands have been creeping into this territory renamed metalcore, whilst many metal bands conversely following the opposite path and taking a more hardcore route. To my ears this new metalcore scene, in which Shadows Fall are apparently categorised with the likes of Lamb Of God, sounds like pure thrash to me.

It`s heads down riff mania from the Shadows Fall guitar duo Jonathan Donais and Matthew Bachand showing their technical proficiency (yes it`s apparently allowed again) on the likes of The Idiot Box. Older song Of One Blood shows more of a hardcore edge and allows Brian Fair to keep the front row cool with his incredibly long windmilling dreads. Shadows Fall effortlessly switch from all out aggression to sweet melodic passages able demonstrated on Stepping Outside The Circle which sees the most intense pit of the set.

It appears the only way remains up for Shadows Fall and I would suspect on their next visit they should be headlining this venue.

Soilwork are back again in the middle slot at the Mean Fiddler having filled the same role for In Flames & Pain on their last visit. This time they`re promoting the newly released Figure No.5 album, which sees a continuation into more commercial territory from their bold Natural Born Chaos release. Having given the new album quite a few spins, I`m still of the opinion that it may have been a little rush released and doesn`t quite hold up against NBC, so I was interested to how these songs would stand up live.

Performance wise little had changed from the last gig, with the majority of the band remaining static. Singer Bjorn "Speed " Strid, has improved, but it`s clearly with some effort that he summons his clean vocals and for the most part he seems to pick a spot somewhere on the ceiling above the crowd to focus upon. Bassist, Ola Flink, is the antithesis to the rest of the band. He reminds me with his tall gangly frame and shoulder length hair of Frank Bello of Anthrax and performs a similar role of encouraging the crowd and providing some much-required energy.

Aside from a run through of Needlefeast, the material is all taken from the latest two albums. The simplicity of the newer material such as Rejection Role, Light The Torch and the title track itself work much better in the live environment. My personal preference however is for the intricacy of the likes of The Bringer and unsurprisingly As We Speak gets the best response of the set.

It may be Children Of Bodom`s first visit to these shores, but they neither seemed surprised nor phased by the turnout tonight. They`re obviously used to playing to larger crowds to this and tonight`s performance harks back to the days when European metal bands would regularly bring their "shows" through the UK.

Following a comical intro tape of They`re Coming To Take Me Away, we`re suddenly bathed in a barrage of green laser lights as Children Of Bodom kick into Needled 24-7. The sound is good and the playing is tight and they`re keen to show this. Taking a look around there`s a number of Dream Theater shirts here tonight and telltale signs of prog-fans. This is no surprise as take away the deathly vocals and you have one very technical outfit.

Keyboard player Janne Warmann is obviously keen to show of his skills with his keyboards tipped forward enabling everyone to admire his frantic finger work. Alex Kuoppala on second guitar is no slouch either, though Alexi Laiho is the obvious centre of attention.

An extensive set-list covers all four albums to date with no obvious concession to an audience of which a large proportion only seems familiar with the latest album. This provides a real "look what you`ve been missing" statement and we can probably turn the blame on to the likes of Kerrang who have been telling us for years that this type of metal is dead and hence promoters have been shy to book bands. Ironic that now Children Of Bodom are flavour of the month in said magazine.

With a whirlwind of fast material, stompers Angels Don`t Kill and Everytime I Die are well positioned a third and two-thirds into the set to provide welcome variety and see devilhorns banging along. Downfall, from the Hatebreeder album, closes the set and instigates a rush for the t-shirt stand, which has done very good business on the back of this performance.

Children Of Bodom Set List:
Needled 24-7 / Hate Me / Chokehold / Silent Night, Bodom Night / Lake Bodom / You`re Better Off Dead / Bodom After Midnight / Sixpounder / Angels Don`t Kill / Towards Dead End / Deadnight Warrior / Kissing The Shadows / Bodom Beach Terror / Everytime I Die / Hate Crew Deathroll / Downfall