Review by TheOneNeverSeen on February 6, 2023.

There isn’t much that I can say about this album that has not already been said, but I still want to review it since I think it’s one of the best metal albums of all time.

The album is perfect in every way imaginable. It has amazing riffs (basically every song aside from "Northern Comfort"), great solos ("Bodom After Midnight", "Everytime I Die"), effective use of keyboards adding a lot to the album’s atmosphere ("Mask of Sanity", "Children of Decadence"). The production is awesome, too, which is what I always appreciate in music. You can hear the drums, the keyboards and the vocals (brilliant as always) very clearly. At the same time, the album does not blatantly copy the "Hatebreeder" sound, but instead, improves certain areas of it. For example, the guitars sound a little bit rawer and more aggressive (the album is generally louder and more energetic than its predecessor), which suits it perfectly, since it focuses more on speed and emotion than on atmosphere and does not have many standing out songs like "Downfall" (besides "Everytime I Die"). The latter is probably the only thing worth of criticism about the record, but I think the remarkability of riffs and solos in this particular case outweighs a slight lack of musical diversity.

Lyric-wise, "Follow the Reaper" is also decent. The majority of the album’s lyrics aren’t straight forward hatred and anger and have a certain mysterious feeling to them (just like the lyrics of other CoB albums). My personal favorites in terms of lyrics would probably be "Children of Decadence", "Everytime I Die" and "Kissing the Shadows".

My favorite thing about this album is its consistency. The first 4 songs (almost half of the album) are straightaway bangers, while the rest are at least good ("Taste of My Scythe", "Kissing the Shadows") and at most – incredible ("Mask of Sanity", "Hate Me!"). The only songs that I feel are slightly weaker than the rest are "Northern Comfort" and "Kissing the Shadows", but they are still enjoyable and thus I won’t be very critical of them.

So, from my humble experience I can say this is one of the best and most remarkable albums of all time. A melodic death masterpiece, an album that will never be forgotten and a wonderful way to get acquainted with the genre. Also, a perfect soundtrack for... nearly everything.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Krys on March 2, 2001.

After first two enthusiastically received albums, it’s time for this band’s biggest challenge: the third album, which for many bands, fans and magazines sets the tone for the band’s future. It will either put you on the top of metal elite or you forever become another band that came, had good moment and then disappeared. So, did they pass the test? Hell yeah!

However, before I came to this conclusion I had my moments of doubt. For instance, when I heard this release for the first time it didn’t catch my attention like "Hatebreeder" did. Somehow I felt like they lost their enthusiasm. Their musical killer instinct was replaced by slower paced tracks that sounded maturer and, I’m sorry to say, at times even commercial. I guess Laiho’s warnings that the next album would have a more power-rock feel were true.

Than came the second phase. After a few spins I found that this album grew on me with every minute and I was becoming addicted to the sounds that were coming from my speakers. It got to the point that for the whole day I was hitting the repeat button because I couldn’t get enough of it. Children of Bodom changed their style and that’s why I was in the state of shock at beginning. As I said before, they slowed down their tracks and although their sound was still hard and heavy it lacked the aggression of the previous releases.

Another thing that irritated me a lot, and to some extent still does, is the role of keyboards. It seems like they made them a main component of the song. Almost all compositions have keyboard solos and in my opinion it’s just too much. Other than that, the music skills of CoB are better than ever. Guitar riffs and solos can be put in any guitar book and be looked upon as great learning material. Laiho's vocal range from black metal screams and brutal death growls to occasional gothic melody lines.

As always, excellent work by Peter Tagtgren's Abyss studio makes Children of Bodom’s "Follow The Reaper" the best sounding product from these Finland’s children. A Perfect CD layout only helps overall great release which, in my opinion, even with those few flaws I’ve described above is still well worth the money.

Bottom Line: If I never heard "Hatebreeder" before, "Follow the Reaper" would easily get the highest score, but… I have heard….

Rating: 8 out of 10