Are You Dead Yet? is the fifth studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. It was released in Finland on September 14, 2005 and internationally on October 25, 2005 under the Century Media label. It is the first Children of Bodom album to feature guitarist Roope Latvala, due to the departure of their original rhythm guitaristAlexander Kuoppala. In this album, the band used the drop C tuning, whereas they usually used D standard. The power metal influences previously prominent are also greatly reduced in this album, resulting in a more simplistic performance and slower tempos. The keyboards also were dropped lower in the mix, with the guitars maintaining musical dominance.
Background
Are You Dead Yet? is the second Children of Bodom album to have two singles from it. "Trashed, Lost & Strungout" was released as an EP and single in 2004, and "In Your Face" was released in August 2005 shortly before the album. It was also their first album with three music videos, with their third video being the title track. "If You Want Peace... Prepare for War" is the English translation of the Latin phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum and is also in the music video gameGuitar HeroWarriors of Rock. The title track's video was shot in part at the Tavastia club in Helsinki, Finland on February 13, 2006. Additional footage for the video was filmed in the US. The clip received its premiere in the US on MTV's Headbangers Ball on March 18, 2006 wherein the band made a special appearance.
Name
The name of the album and its title track was conceived by Alexi Laiho after an alcohol-related injury. He alludes to this during the band's concert DVD, Chaos Ridden Years, and in a magazine article, says: "I came up with the new album title last winter when we were back home and I went out for a night of drinking. I got a hold of some of the cheapest vodka and just drank and drank and drank, and one thing led to another, so we were outside having fun, and I climbed on top of a car, and slipped and fell off, and next thing I know I was in hospital. I had three broken bones in my wrist and lots of stitches, got kept in over night. So when I woke up the next morning I obviously wasn't feeling too good. I looked in the mirror and said to myself, ‘Have you had enough? Are you dead yet?’"
Reception
In 2005, Are You Dead Yet? was ranked number 485 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. However, it was criticized by Paul Stenning in Terrorizer as "interminably weak" and destructive of the band's "remaining credibility".
