Deep in the Underground Atlanta, the city’s favorite entertainment district rests When you mention this venue’s name, most alternative artists will know exactly where you’re talking about. This iconic, massive building has three indoor venues that are cleverly called Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The largest room, Heaven, opened its doors last Thursday for the mighty Children of Bodom. Finland’s Melodic Death Metal masters, CoB recently released their tenth studio album, Hexed. This run of North American shows is promoting this new record and the band brought some fantastic Finnish friends to play with them. Along with Swallow the Sun and Wolfheart, Hotlanta was in for a night of sweet, savage, Scandinavian Metal.

Joining the lineup for the last leg of the tour, the theatrical Summoner’s Circle, opened up the night with a dark and dramatic set. Their hooded robes added mystery to their already painted faces, which made their aesthetic intriguing and emotions vague. Hailing from the unlikely place of Knoxville, Tennessee, it was impressive to hear such a striking sinister sound. The mood shifted gears when an hauntingly honest and direct heaviness was delivered by Finland’s Wolfheart. The leader of this pack, Tuomas Saukkonen has a unique, uninhibited ability to make and perform metal music. The audience began to stir as the quartet broke into songs that painted worlds full of cold, wild, and wanting. As they ripped into their number, ‘Boneyard’, off their third album Tyhjyys, it filled the venue with a rich melancholy and excited melodies. Wolfheart upheaves these rare, raw emotions with their elegantly aggressive Melodic Death Metal. There’s an eerie beauty that meets dynamic darkness in their sound, which made their set sail with majesty and substance.

The night’s vibe continued to shift as the Doom Metal experts, Swallow the Sun strode unto stage. With dim lights and extra mist billowing the crowd became enraptured as the extreme, atmospheric, Death Metal band performed. The bittersweet tone in the guitars and the melancholy in the keys put a chill in the air as this band from the North shared their sound. Vocalist Mikko Kotamaki rumbled like a distant thunder and moved the audience with his sorrow. The windmill headbanging of the group swung the listeners into a gothic dream. Performing some of their new material from their recent record, When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light, was effortlessly played with drama and finesse. The patient grace and stout charm of each member made for a heavy, ambient show.

As the lights lit up and the fog cleared, the audience buzzed with excitement as they waited for the headliners. Soon it went dark again, as Janne Wirman’s keys kicked in a roar was raised and the mayhem that is Children of Bodom began. Guitar hero Alexi Laiho commands whatever stage he swaggers unto. His straightforward screeches and articulate playing pulls in any witness of his art. The robust energy from each player proved the passion for performing that these Finnish fellas have. Experiencing this band in Europe at a sold-out venue twice the size of The Masquerade years ago, made one appreciate the intimate and approachable feel that the band played with. These guys are used to crowds of thousands but still jammed out to a smaller group in The Big Peach, proving their professionalism and heart. Playing the new song ‘This Road’ and encoring with the classic, ‘Hate Me!’ made for a varied and entertaining setlist. The rhythmic precision and skillful technicality from these veterans of Melodic Death Metal were impressive to experience. This band has been around for 25 years and there is still a pep in their step. Their unity was like a sweet caress and their impeccable showmanship revitalizing. With constant horns raised in the crowd, it was evident that all were immersed in the show from beginning to end. CoB brought powerful passion and magnificent magic to Atlanta that night. And here’s to them doing it for another 25 years.

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ROSIE WALKER