Finnish melodeath icons Children of Bodom have revealed details on their upcoming album Hexed, set for release next March. The follow-up to 2015's I Worship Chaos sees the group in a self-described jazzy direction, as Alex Laiho comments, "People have said that the album is generally catchier. So I started thinking about that, perhaps the song structures are easier to grasp on initial listen. But there's some crazy shit in there, almost progressive or at least technical. There are certain melodies across the album that could have come from jazz songs, although they're completely metal with us, of course [Laughs]."
For the cover art (see below), the group wanted to stray from the digital path they've been on with previous albums and hire an actual illustrator to construct something special for the record. Bassist Henkka Blacksmith recalls, "For some years already I have wanted to try a different approach with our cover art. We are so used to digital art so that is really hard to do something else. Doing it all the way with computer is somewhat safe and convenient. This time we all agreed to try it old school." To achieve this "old school" feel, they tapped Russian artist Deins Forkas whose work embodies an ethereal looseness and painterly expressiveness not often found in the death metal realm. Blacksmith continues, "It is very different from what we are used to, even the Reaper looks different, but at the same time very spooky."
A United States and European tour is still in the works, but Hexed hits stores and online merchants March 8th via Nuclear Blast Records. Pre-orders will start on December 7th.
Track listing:
1. The Road
2. Under Grass and Clover
3. Glass Houses
4. Hecate's Nightmare
5. Kick in the Spleen
6. Platitudes and Barren Words
7. Hexed
8. Relapse (The Nature of My Crime)
9. Say Never Look Back
10. Soon Departed
11. Knuckleduster
12. I Worship Chaos (live)
13. Morrigan (live)
14. Knuckleduster (remix)
