Something Wild (album)

Something Wild
Studio album by Children of Bodom
Released	November 1997
Recorded	July - August 1997 Astia-Studios
Genre	Melodic death metal, neo-classical metal, symphonic black metal
Length	36:00
Label	Spinefarm Records Nuclear Blast
Producer	Anssi Kippo and Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom chronology
Something Wild (1997) Hatebreeder (1999)
Alternative cover
first edition cover with original logo first edition cover with original logo

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Metal Storm
Spirit of Metal
Sputnikmusic

Something Wild is the debut album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released in 1997.

The album presents a darker and generally more experimental sound than the one present in their later albums, and contributed most to the infamous genre controversy of their classification as a death metal or black metal band at the time. A fair helping of black metal was still present, due to Alexi Laiho's stint (as lead guitarist) in Impaled Nazarene and his self-professed "roots being in black metal".

In a recent interview Laiho claims that the band at the time were inspired by "a lot of black and death metal bands" such as Dissection and Hypocrisy as well as classic rock/metal bands like the Scorpions, and that many other new bands in the scene were "trying to sound like Dimmu Borgir", leading to them wanting to do something "different". Laiho had gone on to consider the album their "most important", as it "put us on the map".

The song-writing here is much more free-flowing and the use of keyboards and strong neo-classical metal influences are much more prevalent than they would be in future releases such as Hatebreeder or Follow the Reaper.

The "Deluxe Edition" was released much later in 2002 and includes bonus material.

Track listing

• All Tracks on original version written by Alexi Laiho. (Copyright Prophecy Productions)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Deadnight Warrior"	3:22
2.	"In The Shadows"	6:01
3.	"Red Light In My Eyes, Pt. 1"	4:28
4.	"Red Light In My Eyes, Pt. 2"	3:50
5.	"Lake Bodom"	4:02
6.	"The Nail"	6:18
7.	"Touch Like Angel Of Death" (song ends at 4:05 followed by silence and then a 1:20 second long keyboard outro)	7:49

Reissue
No.	Title	Length
8.	"Silent Scream" (Slayer cover)	3:17
9.	"Don't Stop At The Top" (Scorpions cover)	3:24
10.	"Mass Hypnosis" (Sepultura cover)	4:07

Spinefarm Digipack re-release bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
8.	"Children of Bodom" (track also appeared on the 'Children of Bodom' split)	5:10
9.	"Mass Hypnosis" (Sepultura cover)	7:18

The 2008 edition of the album does contain the hidden keyboard solo that was originally at the end of "Touch Like Angel of Death", but it is at the end of the bonus song "Mass Hypnosis".

Facts

1. The song 'The Nail' contains a piece from Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

2. The song 'Red Light In My Eyes Part 2' has musical pieces from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The intro is from his Symphony No. 25 in G minor. A little later on and the main theme from the 'Confutatis' section of his Requiem Mass in D minor appears.

Personnel

Children of Bodom

• Alexi Laiho – vocals, lead guitar
• Alexander Kuoppala – rhythm guitar
• Janne Wirman – keyboards
• Henkka Seppälä – bass
• Jaska Raatikainen – drums

Production

• Produced by Anssi Kippo, Alexi Laiho, Jaska Raatikainen, and Children of Bodom
• Recorded and mixed by Anssi Kippo
• Assistant engineer – Jokke Ryhanen
• Assistant mixing engineer – Pasi Karppa
• Cover photo by Graham French
• Band photography by Toni Harkonen
• Cover artwork by Flea Black