Children of Bodom - Chaos Ridden Years: Stockholm Knockout Live

On the heels of the disappointing Slipknot DVD that I reviewed last issue (if you missed it, go to www.fsu.on.ca), I needed to show all of you that bands do release excellent music DVDs. Children of Bodom's first DVD is a testament to live metal DVDs and they do everything right.

The song selection, some may say, may be the only negative thing about latest release, “Are You Dead Yet?,” the band plays a good chunk off of that CD and their previous disc, “Hate Crew Deathroll.”

As for the rest of the DVD, the band and their producers knew exactly how to take a metal concert and plaster it onto the big screen (well, I guess that depends on how big your TV is). Every song focuses on all bandmates and at the most appropriate times. The solos and the intricate musicianship are all captured perfectly and it makes me wonder if the band sat in the editing room making sure that the edits were perfect with each change-up in the music.

As a cool bonus to the hour-and-a-half show, you get every single Children of Bodom music video including, “Downfall” and “Deadnight Warrior.” There's also a documentary on the band that is quite informative and fun to watch (unlike most of that Slipknot DVD from last issue).

If you have a 5.1 surround sound system, make sure that you pick-up the DVD to listen and watch in your house because the mix is a tad-bit better than the double CD version.

There's not much more to say about this DVD release than “get this one.” It'll only cost you about $16 and it's worth way more than what you pay for it. Metal fans who haven't listened to this band will be quite impressed with the songs, the performance and the overall sound quality. I'm sure when people have this DVD on, this band will win new fans from it. This is a must-buy for you metal heads.