Originally Posted by: RaskolnikovIn the end, I'm sure you and Jolly and I are going to have to agree to disagree, but I can tell you that (with a few highlights here and there), the bass and drum parts for Something Wild, Hatebreeder and Follow the Reaper are utterly boring. They're there... they're solid and they serve their purpose but in no way do they contribute anything extra to the songs. I still love those albums, but it's the guitar and keys that are maintaining my interest, not the rhythm section.

Of course, the bass still isn't stepping out much on Are You Dead Yet?, but for the first time their riffs are something I could play and stay entertained and the drums are finally adding a lot to the songs.

Again and again with this album, I'm finding guitarists feeling the way you guys do and bassists and drummers who love it to death -- go figure.

Children of Bodom has never really been reknowned for their overly exciting rhythm department. The keys and guitars have always pretty much been their main driving force, and when you tone that down what do you get? To me that's just missing the point of music. Music (be it extreme metal, jazz, celtic, rock, whatever) is supposed to challenge. It's supposed to take things to new levels. Save the watered down **** for the musical idiots in the world that couldn't care less to even know what compensates for quality listening material, but if you're going to put all that time and dedication into honing your craft to the best you can, then to tone it down is to throw everything you've put your life into and throw it out the window. It's not really drummers and bassists in particular that seem to obsess about newer children of bodom. Not that I've noticed anyway. The ones I typically catch obsessing over it are scene following douches that turn on the radio/tv and listen to what's handed to them. I dunno, as far as opinions go, mine says that's settling and I've made a promise to myself to never settle. Naturally, though, I won't deny I've got my guilty pleasures. And these are just my opinionated thoughts on the topic. I"ve got a clear idea on what I expect from the music world and I know that what I think the business should be isn't what it is, so I cope with it the best I can... which isn't always too well.