EP: Bodom After Midnight – Paint The Sky With Blood

The Breakdown

This EP will always be overshadowed by the loss of Alex Laiho, but it's a great introduction to one of the finest metal bands.

– 8.0

What should have been the beginning for the band has become their only work and a homage to the late singer/guitarist Alexi Laiho. ‘Paint The Sky With Blood’ sees Bodom After Midnight lay down three tracks of heavy metal riffs, pummelling drums and dual guitar trickery.

The band comments:

“Like ourselves, Alexi was beyond stoked about these songs and anxious to get these out, so we are happy that we can fulfill his wish. Needless to say, we are honoured and proud to be a part of his very last creative work and to unleash it the way he wanted it. It’s time to let the beast out of the cage one more time as a celebration of Alexi’s music, legacy and the man himself.”

The crashing of drums and huge sounding guitars kick off this EP in perfect form and the initial scream sets the furious scene as ‘Paint The Sky With Blood’ charges straight out of that cage. Insanely heavy the band walk the perfect line between heaviness and melodic structure. The band demonstrate an interplay between each member heard in the way they with the deal with changes in the music

With a punk attitude ‘Payback’s A Bitch’ benefits from this close knit musical kinship. The constant dynamic changes in the track are all taken within the strides of each member. Huge riffs dominate as Laiho nails down another perfectly penned solo on a track that is a typical descendent of the Bodom legacy.

‘Where Dead Angels Lie’ is the final track on the EP and originally performed by Swedish extreme metal outfit, Dissection. While keeping close to the original, the band have opened the track up creating an eerie riff filled metal symphony with the halloween tinged guitar riff and guttural vocals making this very much a Bodom track. The cover is a fitting end to an EP paying respects to the great Laiho.

The bands music is a natural continuation of old school thrash and heavy metal, with a modern twist incorporating symphonic and progressive elements creating an almost best of metal sound. There’s a punk attitude to the rampaging tracks giving the listener a wild ride in which we can celebrate the life of Alex Laiho but also mourn the lost music the band have not had chance to create.

Check out track ‘Payback’s A Bitch’, below