Bodom After Midnight – Paint the Sky With Blood
Release Date: 23rd April 2021
Label: Napalm Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
FFO: Children of Bodom
Review By: Lucas Di Mascio
Children of Bodom was synonymous with my teenage years. Alexi Laiho was a guitar god and even though I had only seen Bodom live a handful of times I still consider them an important part of my musical influence. Like many people I was floored when Alexi passed this year- especially so soon after the band had announced they would be breaking up and the mysterious drama behind the ownership of the band name. Admittedly, I had fallen a bit out of love with Bodom after the Are You Dead Yet? album. I don’t think it was for any particular reason other than my tastes had changed at that point in my life. But I listened to what would be their last record, Hexed, when it came out and I fell right back in love with the band and binged the records that I had missed since that point.
So, why am I dedicating my opening paragraph about Children of Bodom instead of Bodom After Midnight? As a fan, it’s hard to separate the two acts Alexi was Bodom to a degree, so no matter what kind of project he was in it was bound to sound similar. The blend of hair metal/cock rock/power metal/death metal/neo-classical is ever present in Alexi’s music- and Bodom After Midnight is definitely no different. The songs on “Paint The Sky With Blood” would fit right in with a few different eras of Bodom’s back catalogue, and almost act as a “best of” of Alexi’s career. This EP is bittersweet, I’m sure most Bodom fans would love to hear a full length of whatever these guys were cooking. The opening title track has some great riffs and is classic Bodom keyboard and guitar work, and has a great gothic interlude at the halfway point which reminds me of a lot of older Bodom releases. Payback’s A Bitch has a very “sleaze rock” solo and some great riffs. The last song is a Dissection cover of Where Dead Angels Lie – and it’s easily one of my favourite covers Alexi has ever done. Usually Bodom would do older metal or rock songs (or that one Britney Speers cover- remember that?), so it’s a nice change to hear a death metal cover by Alexi and crew. I actually like Bodom After Midnight’s cover more than the original song- their flair for the dramatic with their keyboards really lifts the song.
Unfortunately, that’s it… That’s all that’s left of Alexi’s music- unless there’s a full album recorded and hidden away that hasn’t been revealed yet. With all the drama around Alexi around his death- the familial issues and the stuff with his former bandmates in Children of Bodom, this EP has proven to be much needed for fans of the band who want to remember Alexi for who he was: one hell of a guitarist and frontman. 
(5 / 5)
