Hate Crew Deathroll

For their fourth stab at spreading the Bodom beach terror, the original five members of neoclassical melodeathers Children of Bodom took a cleaner approach to their scythe swings. Alexi Laiho’s leads still sliced at light-speed but more thrash-focused tracks like “Needled 24/7” and “Triple Corpse Hammerblow” seemed sharpened specifically to cut through their expanding concert crowds. It worked; even though diehard fans considered this a sell-out effort, these reapers never put together a keener collection of blades before or since.