Well, they loaded it up with something, that's for sure. After listening to this a decent number of times, I bit the bullet and refaced "Blooddrunk" and "Are you Dead Yet?" to help me compare and contrast: "I Worship Chaos" is certainly the superior album in every regard next to those aforementioned dumps. It feels like a more comprehensive product from Children of Bodom, although calling it passable or even halfway decent is a wide stretch. "I Worship Chaos," digging into the meat and potatoes here, conjures an incongruous glimpse of the bedlam Children of Bodom allegedly praises; it is an unadventurous, wishy-washy product from a band that should have access to numerous creative tools and approaches. Children of Bodom is essentially a Gordon Ramsay who refuses to cook anything but hot pockets.

I've found it difficult to pigeonhole Children of Bodom's sound, despite their using customs of this and knacks for that. This ends up giving "I Worship Chaos" room to feel out the depth of the group's artistic reach; it just so happens their ventures aren't worthwhile. The melodic death stomps of "I Hurt" and the title track are almost on another planet compared to the atmospheric undertones and careful arrangements of "All for Nothing" and "Prayer for the Afflicted." The former group shows Children of Bodom throwing a musical tantrum, stomping around simple, angst-ridden grooves and bits that sound juvenile and tedious; the latter excavates some meaningful songwriting sections, although they are far from perfect. A serious issue is the band's inability to write compelling riffs. "Widdershins" and "Suicide Bomber" have alluring keyboard measures and attractive shredding elements, but the foundation is soiled right off the bat by vapid guitar work which only manages to hook once in a blue moon.