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

Review by Felix on October 30, 2022.

I am really surprised to see all the reviews with excellent ratings for “Beyond Recognition”. As much as I regret it, I cannot share this point of view. In my humble opinion, Defiance never gained a seat in the front row of thrash metal. On their third album, they appeared like a bad copy of Testament. “Step Back”, an unintentionally honest title after the acceptable debut and “Void Terra Firma”, shows the influence of the legacy administrators in an obvious way. Adding insult to injury, Defiance were – of course – not able to fight against the zeitgeist successfully. Guess we cannot expect this from a band that always followed the role models. Therefore this album delivers a pretty tamed form of thrash metal which has not much in common with its originally boisterous character.

Naturally, Defiance were not the only combo that fell victim to its own diluted sounds. But compared with their idols, they had another significant problem: their song-writing skills left wide room for improvement. Or do you really think that a song like the sleepy and boring title track is a hidden gem in the history of thrash? Despite its short double bass parts, it has nothing to do with the songs of those albums that defined the genre. The endless mid-tempo rhythms of the other tracks appeared as the undertakers of thrash as well. The genre had become an old man who was who was relieved that with the second wave of black metal a new phenomenon was preparing to free him from the role of the most extreme guy in town. Unable to write a catchy chorus and punished with the expressionless vocals of the lead singer, Defiance’s destiny was preordained. Not to mention their inexplicable love for stop-and-go riffs that kill the good ideas one finds in “Dead Silence”.

What is the best we can say concerning the A side? Well, the production is okay. Not very powerful, but its transparency and the guitar sound shape a solid foundation. Too bad that the mix is also the best thing we get during the B side. “Inside Looking Out” is not total shit, but its single parts do not form a coherent, exciting track and the somewhat mechanized vocals are simply awful. But lo and behold, the slow-moving but persistent “The Chosen” surprises with a certain amount of atmosphere and its riffing deserves at least a friendly nod of the head. Too late, too little. The horse has already left the barn and the following “Powertrip” with its embarrassing anti-chorus is nothing but a rude awakening. “Beyond Recognition” sounds to me like the work of a band that has lost its orientation or does thing that it is not convinced of. Maybe the whole thing was just an improvised rehearsal session pressed onto vinyl out of a stupid coincidence. Admittedly, there is nothing wrong with the craftsmanship of the instrumentalists, but nevertheless this album is nothing more than an easy-to-understand explanation why thrash metal urgently needed a time-out.

Rating: 2.9 out of 10