Finland’s melodic death superstars CHILDREN OF BODOM are proud to the announce the release of their tenth album, Hexed, on March 8, 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records.
COB frontman, guitarist, and mastermind Alexi Laiho comments, “People have said that the album is generally catchier. So I started thinking about that, perhaps the song structures are easier to grasp on initial listen. But there’s some crazy shit in there, almost progressive or at least technical. There are certain melodies across the album that could have come from jazz songs, although they’re completely metal with us, of course (laughs).”
“For me, it has always been very hard to describe our new music,” comments bassist Henkka Blacksmith. “In a way it always feels familiar, but the new stuff also always surprises me. Here we have something that’s very Bodom, but somehow we haven’t done this kind of stuff maybe ever. Then again, someone said that there’s somehow similar vibe to what Follow the Reaper had. I don’t know. Anyway, we had a really hard time choosing the songs for the two videos, I guess that’s a positive problem.”
Hexed saw the return to Finland’s Danger Johnny Studios where they were reunited with Mikko Karmila (I Worship Chaos, Halo Of Blood) who recorded everything except keyboards and also produced the album with the band. Janne Wirman recorded keyboards at Beyond Abilities Studios. The album was mixed and mastered at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland.
For this album, the band enlisted Deins Forkas to create the album artwork. Bassist Henkka Blacksmith commented on the cover, “For some years already I have wanted to try a different approach with our cover art. We are so used to digital art so that is really hard to do something else. Doing it all the way with computer is somewhat safe and convenient. This time we all agreed to try it old school. We found this cool dude and gave him simple instructions. The cover has to be purple and the reaper has to be central. Half a year later we got his work, and with little tweaking, we have the cover of Hexed. It is very different from what we are used to, even the Reaper looks different, but at the same time very spooky.”
Hexedwill be available for pre-order starting December 7th.
Hexed track listing:
01. The Road
02. Under Grass and Clover
03. Glass Houses
04. Hecate’s Nightmare
05. Kick in the Spleen
06. Platitudes and Barren Words
07. Hexed
08. Relapse (The Nature of My Crime)
09. Say Never Look Back
10. Soon Departed
11. Knuckleduster
12. I Worship Chaos (live)
13. Morrigan (live)
14. Knuckleduster (remix)
Stay tuned for more information about the album as well as announcements about their upcoming US tour in the spring and European trek in the summer.
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