Track Listing

1. Living Dead Beat
2. Are You Dead Yet?
3. If You Want Peace...Prepare for War
4. Punch Me I Bleed
5. In Your Face
6. Next in Line
7. Bastards of Bodom
8. Trashed, Lost & Strungout
9. We're Not Gonna Fall
10. Somebody Put Something In My Drink

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14348 in Music
• Released on: 2005-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
This is the fifth studio album from Children Of Bodom.Lead singer Alexi Laiho told Finland's Soundi magazine that 'Are You Dead Yet?' features some completely new influences. The follow-up to 2003's 'Hate Crew Deathroll' will 'be even more straight-forward than its predecessor and will contain some industrial elements while retaining COB's trademark sound, including the super-fast guitar and keyboard solos. Universal. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Another solid, just not spectacular, Bodom release
Hatebreeder and Follow the Reaper instantly appealed to me with their pure neo-classical styles, and lightning quick guitar and synthesizer interplay. Within weeks of first hearing these albums, I checked out Something Wild and was equally impressed by the earlier effort's straightforwardness, coupled with the same COB speed.

Well, reviews stated that Are You Dead Yet? would be a return to the straightforward style, and I completely agree.

Unfortunately, this release, while good, does not match the intensity, creativity, or character of the COB classics.

Almost completely absent are the deliciously wicked synthesizer/guitar runs which conjure memories of a death/thrash version of Beethoven rocking out the mall keyboards in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Instead we are treated, and treated I will say because this album is good, to more generic melodeath/thrash. Don't get me wrong, the musicianship is still something to behold, and I doubt these guys will ever fail to impress in this department, but Something Wild, Hatebreeder, and Follow the Reaper had an undeniably unique Children of Bodom sound, while Are You Dead Yet? never really projects a distinguishable identity, just unparalleled instrumental ability.

A few tracks like the slower-paced "Punch Me I Bleed" stand strong as dynamic, well-composed tracks, but even the best songs on this album will have trouble inducing the same kind of epileptic fits that result from listening to vintage Bodom.

Still, most of these criticisms must be considered within the context of Bodom. The album, of course, is worthwhile because you will be hard-pressed to find a band playing this type of music with such proficiency. Long time fans of COB can expect to hear the standard mind-blowing solos, pile-driving drums, and incomprehensibly fast keyboard runs, but I believe most of these fans will also agree that the band does not succeed as well in creating cohesive masterpieces as it has before. I must quit now, because I feel I am being entirely too negative. This album is definitely worth your time and money. I mean, a four star score (80%) is really good, just not spectacular. And in a year of such magnificent metal, and when you are talking about a band with such a worthy catalogue, I hope most of you will consider this a review of a really good album, which simply does not measure up to its legendary predecessors.

The good, the bad, and the awesomely funny
I've been listening to COB for a few years now, and like many, feel they hit their stride with Follow the Reaper. The album had a really fresh sound, and showed what a truly talented and unique ensemble COB is. HateCrew Deathroll was a really solid heavy album that was satisfying, though definetely not their best. Are You Dead Yet sees Bodom drawing more of a "modern" influence, with more hardcore elements than before.

First and foremost, the keyboards are still there, and regardless of the rest of the band, will still leave each and every song feeling like a Bodom song. Older Bodom fans like myself will really love Bastards of Bodom, the one song on the album that feels just like the old days. The dueling keyboards and guitars thrive on the track, and will please all the old-school fans.

Though Bodom never really had the best lyrics, some of them are just laughable here (In Your Face in particular). But at the same time, I can't honestly say I ever listened to the band for their lyrics exactly...it was always more the music that drew me in. And while the music here is solid, it is unfulfilling at times. Alexi and the boys can and have produced better offerings.

So I would probably have gone with the 3 star route...until I heard the last track. The Ramones cover "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" is just great. The humor of the lyrics fits in PERFECT with the band, and they made a fantastic cover that both does justice to the Ramones and also gives it a Bodom flavor. This song on its own makes the album worth at least one listen.

You might be dead, but C.o.B. are far from it ( 4.5 stars ).
Oh, no! Faceless foreign imitators are NOT doing metal the way it's supposed to be done. What EVER will we do? Fear not, fellow metalheads, for Children of Bodom are back, and they're stronger and more irresistable than ever. And guess what? They brought audible keyboards this time around! I, for one, after listening to this album, couldn't see "Are You Dead Yet?" being without the keyboard solos, some of which are just immaculate. I'm not saying that it's anything groundbreaking, but this album is pushing the limits of its particular sub-genre. Don't get me wrong now, it's still heavy, very heavy indeed, but it would be tough to clasify this disc as merely thrash or melodic-death. The band's lead vocalist/guitarist, Alexi Laiho, has a much bigger job this time around, for former lead guitarist, Alexander Kuoppala, is no longer with the band. However, as we've come to expect from him in the past, Alexi again delivers, helping Children of Bodom produce, yet again, a near-masterpiece. I will now highlight my favorites :

2. Are You Dead Yet - The title track is almost bass-driven, which is a positive for me. It is also chock-full of floor-rattling howls by Alexi.
3. If You Want Peace ... Prepare For War - Can you say solos? If you can't, this track sure can. Hell, I wouldn't even mind if there weren't vocals in this song.
5. In Your Face - Yes, I know, it may seem a little forced. I thought so too when I first listen to it, but it soon became my favorite on the record.
10. Somebody Put Something In My Drink - A remake of the Ramone's classic, this song is a great closer for me, actually, it'd fit just right anywhere in the album. Nice guitar solo mid-way, followed by a cool modulation.

Please, don't let the 3 1/2 star average rating monopolize your thoughts. Just listen to this CD, and headbang until you're reaching for that Advil. Thank you for your time.