Eluveitie and Children of Bodom at Pop’s, Feb 4, 2012

I generally prefer clean vocals in my Metal, but I make exceptions for most Folk Metal, bands that have clean AND harsh vocals (Epica, After Forever, MaYaN, Trail of Tears, etc.), and Children of Bodom.  Why?  Because most harsh vocals in these bands have passion.  And there’s something about these kinds of screaming vocals that sets them apart from, say, most American Metalcore bands.  Most American Metalcore bands sound like, well, garbage.  There’s a distinct difference in what the screams sound like. 

If you don’t see what I’m getting at, listen to Eluveitie or Children of Bodom and then try to listen to All That Remains and tell me that they’re even remotely similar in terms of vocals (Forget the even bigger difference in music).

Children of Bodom.  There's all kinds of hotness up in here.

But, I digress.  ON TO THE REVIEW!

Recently, Eluveitie and Children of Bodom came to my very non-Metal home base of St. Louis, Missouri.   Before the show, I was a huge fan of Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie, and a casual fan of Children of Bodom, who hail from Finland (aka the country that has Metal in its water).  I just liked COB’s earlier melodic stuff, and vaguely remembered seeing pictures of Alexi Laiho on the internet and thinking he was attractive.  All good reasons to go.

My fiancé told me that Eluveitie would blow my mind live, since he had the pleasure of seeing them years ago at a Paganfest in Chicago.  And, oh, was he right.  The energy, the passion!  The talent!  Meri rocked her violin like it was her bitch (I’m sure it is), Chrigel screamed with the same feeling and passion heard on the albums, and Patrick was magnificent on whistles and bagpipes.  I couldn’t see Anna or the other band members at all (because I’m short), so I can’t vouch for them very much except that they sounded spectacular.  I haven’t seen this much energy on a stage since I saw DragonForce years ago.  It was very, very fun.  I had an amazing time.  And I loved the setlist.

Eluveitie. They need to headline shows.

Their setlist consisted generally of songs from their newest album, All That Remains (As It Never Was) (I wonder if they’re being funny with the title here? :P), a tasting of two songs from their upcoming album Helvetios, which sounded amazing, and they finished it off with Inis Mona.  I think Inis Mona has become Eluveitie’s “encore song,” and that makes me happy.

After Eluveitie and the two rather poor opening bands, my feet were pretty much dead.  I’d also heard tales of how rowdy American Children of Bodom fans can get, so my friends and I escaped to the bar area.  We don’t like moshing.  Tiny people break easily.  

Because girls are awesome.  (c) Tony Norkus

 So, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately ;D), all I saw of Children of Bodom was Alexi Laiho.  And, damn, is that man gorgeous.  I’m not one to get all fangirly about things, but DAMN.  When he’d really get into a solo I’d have to fan myself.  It was that hot.  

Or is it just me?

As for the music, I was very surprised to hear only songs from their older, more melodic era.  They opened up with Sixpounder and ended with Downfall, with maybe one or two of the newer songs thrown in somewhere.  The rest were all melodic goodies with earth-shattering guitar and keyboard solos.  I’d also heard things about Alexi being drunk on stage, but he was flawless.  If he was drunk, I couldn't tell, and neither could those in my group who were Children of Bodom aficionados.  But, hey, I’m clearly a bit biased.

All in all, it was a very good show, and I had a great time!  My respect and love for both bands happily rose after witnessing their performances that night!  Definitely worth the $20 ticket. 

I won't be seeing another show until ProgPower XIII in September (OMG I HAVE THE TICKETS YESSS), because nobody comes here.  And ProgPower is certainly worth the pilgrimage. 



(I do not own any of the images used in this post, and couldn't find proper photographer credits!  If you're the photographer of these photos, drop me a message and I'll give you due credit!)