Children of Bodom

Clearly not wishing to lose the considerable head of steam accumulated by their ever-more popular albums, Finnish extreme metal favorites Children of Bodom unleashed this four-track EP in 2005 -- just in case their fans were starting to forget them. No chance of that, as it were; besides a couple of excellent originals (the very appealing, riff and synth-laden title track and its similarly hooky counterpart "Knuckleduster" -- both typically Bodom), Trashed, Lost & Strungout contains a revealing pair of covers exposing the group's pop-metal influences. Namely: Alice Cooper's oft-overlooked '80s comeback hit "Bed of Nails," and, even more surprising, Andrew W.K.'s career-making single "She Is Beautiful" -- both of them thrashed up a tad, yet still thoroughly recognizable. Finally, there's a hefty multimedia section boasting the title track's promo video and a 20-minute expose following the bandmembers as they goof around their native Helsinki to help convince any fans with itchy trigger-fingers. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide