Follow the Reaper

Follow the Reaper
Studio album by Children of Bodom
Released	October 30, 2000, February 20, 2001[1]
Recorded	August–September 2000 at The Abyss
Genre	Death metal, black metal,[1] power metal[2]
Length	38:14
Label	Spinefarm, Nuclear Blast
Producer	Peter Tägtgren, Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom chronology
Tokyo Warhearts (1999) Follow the Reaper (2000/2001) Hate Crew Deathroll (2003)
Singles from Follow the Reaper
"Hate Me!" Released: May 2000

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Sputnik Music	[4]

Follow the Reaper is the third studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released in Finland in October 2000 by Spinefarm Records and in February 2001 internationally by Nuclear Blast Records.

The album is the first to use a power metal-influenced sound in addition to the black metal and symphonic metal elements from previous albums—present mainly in the keyboards, vocals, and fast tempos. Many songs on the album became live setlist favorites, such as "Everytime I Die", "Hate Me!", and the title track. The song "Mask of Sanity" is a remake of the song "Talking of the Trees" from their early demo Shining (released as IneartheD).

Follow the Reaper was recorded and mixed at Peter Tägtgren's Abyss studio in Sweden, instead of the Finnish Astia-studio from Anssi Kippo, in which they had recorded all of their previous releases, including the demos from IneartheD. On this album, Children of Bodom used D standard tuning (D,G,C,F,A,D), which was also used on Hatebreeder.

The album features sampled quotes from the 1990 film The Exorcist III.

A deluxe edition featuring two bonus tracks was released in 2006.

Track listing

All tracks written by Alexi Laiho. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Follow the Reaper"	3:47
2.	"Bodom After Midnight"	3:43
3.	"Children of Decadence"	5:33
4.	"Everytime I Die"	4:02
5.	"Mask of Sanity"	3:58
6.	"Taste of My Scythe"	3:58
7.	"Hate Me!"	4:44
8.	"Northern Comfort"	3:47
9.	"Kissing the Shadows"	4:32

Reissue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Don't Stop at the Top" (Scorpions cover)	Scorpions	3:24

Japan reissue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Shot in the Dark" (Ozzy Osbourne cover)	Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Soussan	3:38
11.	"Hellion" (W.A.S.P. cover)	Blackie Lawless	3:02

Nuclear Blast deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Hellion" (W.A.S.P. cover)		3:02
11.	"Aces High" (Iron Maiden cover)	Steve Harris	4:30

Re-release bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
10.	"Hate Me!" (Original single version)	4:47
11.	"Hellion" (W.A.S.P. cover)	3:02

Personnel

Children of Bodom

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

Production

• Peter Tägtgren – production, engineering
• Children of Bodom – production
• Lars Szöke – assistant engineering
• Mikko Karmila – additional treatment
• Mike "Count" Jussila – mastering

Additional personnel

• King Sami Saramäki – graphic design
• J. S. Karjalainen – assistant photographer
• Toni Härkönen – band photographs

References

1. "Follow the Reaper by Children of Bodom on Apple Music". iTunes.apple. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
2. "Children Of Bodom - Follow the Reaper (album review 5)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2016-10-16. So what you will about the albums of DragonForce (though their take on the genre is slightly difference, yeah, just a little on the slight side), Kalmah, or Norther, but in my humblest of opinions, Children of Bodom's Follow the Reaper represents the height of the extreme power metal genre, and a definite classic.
3. "Follow the Reaper". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
4. "Children Of Bodom - Follow the Reaper (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. 2006-11-28. Retrieved 2012-02-16.