Children of Bodom

Children Of Bodom is a melodic death metal band from Espoo, Finland. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho (vocals, lead guitar), Janne Wirman (keyboards), Henkka Seppälä (bass), Jaska Raatikainen (drums) and Daniel Freyberg (rhythm guitar). In total they have released nine studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, two compilation albums and one DVD.

The band's third studio album, Follow the Reaper, was their first album to receive a Gold certification in Finland, and since then, all seven of the band's studio albums have acquired the same status. In Finland, Children Of Bodom has released three consecutive albums that debuted at number one on Finnish album charts,^[5] and has also seen chart positions on the United States Billboard 200.

The band has incorporated many different musical styles, leading critics and fans to label them as melodic death metal,^[1] power metal,^[2] and thrash metal.^[3][4] They are one of Finland's best selling artists of all time with more than 250,000 records sold there alone.

History

Formation and early years (1993–1997)

Singer and Guitarist Alexi Laiho at Rockharz Open Air 2016

Bassist Henkka „T. Blacksmith“ Seppälä 2016

Guitarist Daniel Freyberg 2016

Children Of Bodom was formed in 1993 by guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen under the name of Inearthed. Both musicians had known each other since early childhood and had shared an interest in heavy metal, especially death metal groups, such as Dissection, Entombed, and Obituary. Bassist Samuli Miettinen completed the initial line-up of the band. Inearthed recorded its first demo, Implosion of Heaven, during August of the same year.

Samuli was the main composer of the band's lyrics for the two years that he took part in Inearthed, but his family moved to the United States in 1995, making it impossible for him to remain in the band. His last contributions to Inearthed were the lyrics of the songs from their second demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission which was the first time they worked with producer Anssi Kippo at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). In this demo, keyboards were incorporated into the band's songs for the first time. In order to achieve this, both Laiho and Raatikainen played the keyboards separately, and subsequently mixed the recorded track with the other instruments. Laiho, who had previously only composed the melodies of the songs, assumed the role of the band's lyricist.

At the time, Raatikainen played French horn in a local big band, and during a rehearsal he met Alexander Kuoppala, a trumpet player and also a proficient guitarist. Shortly after the recording of their second demo, Kuoppala was invited to join Inearthed as a rhythm guitarist.

The bassist chosen to replace Samuli was Henkka "Blacksmith" Seppälä, whom Laiho and Raatikainen had previously known from school. Apart from playing the bass, Seppälä also often doubles as the band's backing vocalist. Also, the band recruited a musician to specialize on keyboards, whose name was Jani Pirisjoki. Both joined Inearthed in early 1996.

With this new line-up, Inearthed proceeded to record their third demo, entitled Shining. This demo did not impress record labels any more than the previous ones had, and none took interest in the band.^[6] Despite their efforts, their music got little exposure and managed only to play at local events. As a last resort, the band decided to record an independent, self-funded album. Considering that none of the musicians had much money to begin with, it was an audacious move.

Laiho wanted to make use of the keyboards more effectively, but Pirisjoki was not attending rehearsals. Thus, he was fired and replaced by a friend of Raatikainen's, a jazz pianist named Janne "Warman" Wirman.^[6]

Wirman was the component which was previously missing from Inearthed. His presence allowed the band to assume the style which would later characterize Children Of Bodom. With Wirman, the band successfully recorded their first album in 1997. Their debut, Something Wild, was supposed to be released by a small Belgian label, Shiver Records, but second vocalist Sami Tenetz (from Thy Serpent) acquired a copy of their album through the hands of Kuoppala. They both worked for the same company at the time. Shortly after Inearthed signed this contract, Spinefarm Records' boss immediately became interested in signing them for a country-wide release. The latter deal was much more attractive to the band, since the Belgian label was offering them close to no help, to the point where they would have to distribute and sell the album themselves.

The band was required to create a new name to sign up to Spinefarm Records. The contract with Shiver records had already been signed under the name of Inearthed. The answer to that problem came as the members looked for good names in their local phone book. When they stumbled upon Lake Bodom, they realized that it was a name with impact and one which had an interesting story behind it. A long list of possible names involving the word Bodom was then made, and they settled with Children Of Bodom. The band's name is derived from the Lake Bodom murders.^[7]

Something Wild (1997–1998)

Something Wild was produced, recorded and mixed by Anssi Kippo and Children Of Bodom at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). In an attempt to promote their band, they opened a show for Dimmu Borgir in 1997. Their success was such that a representative from the Nuclear Blast label shortly approached them with a contract for a European release, a deal which started on the subsequent year. Something Wild was released in late 1997 in Finland and in 1998 worldwide. In early 1998, for promotional purposes the band recorded a music video of the song "Deadnight Warrior". The video was directed by Mika Lindberg and had a slim budget of €1000. It made use of simple scenery, which consisted essentially of an outdoors location after a snowstorm. The band played for a couple of hours at night, with an average temperature of minus fifteen degrees Celsius.

Although Laiho is very critical of all of the music he has written, he notes that he dislikes Something Wild the most of all of his albums. When recording this album, Laiho had tried to mimic the style of one of his idols, Yngwie Malmsteen, which is why Something Wild is considered one of the most technical albums Children Of Bodom have ever produced. Despite this, he still considers it to be their "most important" record, as it "put them on the map."

Children Of Bodom's first European tour began in February 1998. They played with bands such as Hypocrisy (at such festivals as Under the Black Sun), The Kovenant and Agathodaimon, but suffered from the absence of Wirman, who was concentrating on finishing his studies. He was replaced by pianist Erna Siikavirta for the duration of the tour.

Months later, the band recorded two new songs again at Astia-studios with producer Anssi Kippo, entitled "Towards Dead End" and "Children Of Bodom". The latter was included in a compilation by Spinefarm Records, which after being released remained on the top of Finnish charts for eight consecutive weeks. In late August, the band played the song "Forevermore" live for the first time during a show in Russia. This song was later renamed "Downfall".

Their second European tour occurred in September of that same year, but once more Wirman was not able to perform with them. Laiho's then-girlfriend Kimberly Goss (from Sinergy and formerly of Dimmu Borgir, Ancient and Therion) assumed the keyboards this time. By the end of the tour, Kimberly invited Laiho to join Sinergy, which at the time was still in its early stages.

Hatebreeder (1998–2000)

The second album, Hatebreeder, was recorded between the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999 by Anssi Kippo at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). It was originally entitled Towards Dead End, but while in studio the members of the band opted for the current title. To create anticipation in Finland, the '"Downfall" single was released two weeks prior to the album's release. It was accompanied by a new music video, once more directed by Mika Lindberg. Hatebreeder ultimately topped the charts in many European countries. In July 1999, the success of the "Downfall" single and Hatebreeder allowed Children Of Bodom to schedule three concerts in Japan with Sinergy and In Flames. During two of these concerts, the live album Tokyo Warhearts was recorded. In it the band managed to seamlessly reproduce and at times improve on their songs. This was a notable achievement for a band with only two albums recorded previously. At their request, no overdubs were used on the recording of the concert.

Follow the Reaper (2000–2002)

For their next release, Children Of Bodom decided to make use of Peter Tägtgren's Abyss studio in Sweden instead of the Finnish Astia-studio from Anssi Kippo where they had recorded all of their previous releases including the demos from Inearthed. The band wrote eight new songs for this album. While in the studio, they decided to include an extra track that was hastily composed and featured lyrics improvised by Laiho; that track would eventually receive the name of "Kissing the Shadows". The band gave the album the name of Follow the Reaper and recording sessions took place between August and September 2000; the album saw a worldwide release in late 2000. A music video for "Everytime I Die" was recorded by the Finnish director Tuukka Temonen shortly after.

Hate Crew Deathroll (2002–2004)

In February 2002, Children Of Bodom began writing songs for their upcoming album, entitled Hate Crew Deathroll. They returned to Astia-studio (Lappeenranta, Finland) to work with producer Anssi Kippo again. The session ensued during the months of August and September, and the album was released January 2003 in Finland. It remained on the top of the Finnish charts for a total of three weeks and subsequently became the band's first gold album. Eventually all of the band's albums reached this status and Follow the Reaper reached platinum.

On January 3, 2003, the Finnish Metal Music Awards were held at Tavastia Club in Helsinki. Voting was open to all the metal fans and was presented through the various media outlets that were working with the event's organizers. Children Of Bodom was awarded Finnish Band of the Year.^[8]

Children Of Bodom's first world tour began in 2003 and lasted until late 2004. The tour had many sold-out concerts and marked the consolidation of the band in North America, but was also accompanied by an unexpected announcement: Kuoppala decided to quit Children Of Bodom for personal reasons right in the middle of the tour without giving previous warning. In an interview, when Laiho was asked why Kuoppala left the band, he stated that, "Well, I try to be careful about what I say about him because there is no bad blood between us. He told me that he just got sick of touring and the whole band/rock 'n roll lifestyle living in hotels and tour buses and stuff. For me it was really weird because he was always the one who was SO into it! He was a die hard rock 'n roller and suddenly he made a quick 180 turn in his whole life. This whole situation involves a new girlfriend."^[9] Griffin's guitarist Kai Nergaard was invited by Laiho to replace Kuoppala, but did not accept the offer. Thus, Alexi's bandmate from Sinergy, Roope Latvala (founding member of Stone, one of the bands which started the heavy metal movement in Finland) assumed the guitars as a session player, until a more permanent solution could be found. This formation was introduced in Moscow on the 16th of August.

Are You Dead Yet? (2004–2007)

Children Of Bodom live in Milan 2006.

After successfully finishing the world tour with Latvala — who then assumed a permanent position in the band's line-up — Children Of Bodom proceeded to record and release the EP Trashed, Lost & Strungout and the single "In Your Face", which contained songs from their upcoming album and a parody cover of "Oops!... I Did It Again" by Britney Spears. In late 2005, the album Are You Dead Yet? was released, featuring a style different from what had been presented by the band on its previous works. Simpler and heavier guitar riffs were incorporated into Children Of Bodom's sound, as well as elements from industrial music. Reactions from fans to the release were varied; however, the album remains the band's most commercially successful. It was awarded gold status in Finland and reached first place on the Finnish charts, 16th in Germany, 16 in Sweden and 17 in Japan. The next release of the band was a DVD-single for the song "In Your Face", which included the music video, backstage footage from the band and a live recording of the song "Sixpounder" at Wacken Open Air festival in 2004. In June, Children Of Bodom was in front of 120,000 spectators, one of their biggest concerts on the last concert of the Böhse Onkelz. On the DVD of the concert, the Vaya Con Tioz was called, Children Of Bodom were also with the song "Everytime I Die" represented.

Children Of Bodom's live DVD Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout Live was released on December 5, 2006. It contains a recording of a live concert performed on February 5, 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden, with over 90 minutes of live footage. "Chaos Ridden Years" refers to a documentary featuring interviews with band members about the history of the band and footage of the band on tour. It also contains every official music video Children Of Bodom has ever made, except for "Needled 24/7". Guitarist Alexi Laiho was voted world's best guitarist of 2006 by Metal Hammer magazine.

In June 2006, the band embarked on one of their biggest tours: The Unholy Alliance tour, playing alongside Slayer, Lamb of God, Mastodon, In Flames and Thine Eyes Bleed. The bands toured the US through June and July and Europe through October and November.

On January 31, 2007, Laiho slid down the lane at a bowling alley after accidentally stepping over the foul line. He slammed hard into the wall, breaking his left shoulder. This rendered him unable to play guitar for six weeks. Due to this incident, Children Of Bodom was forced to cancel their first 2007 tours and a festival that they were slated to headline.

On March 31, 2007, the band's website released information on Laiho's condition stating that while Laiho's injury will never fully heal, it no longer affects his ability to play a guitar. The same notice also stated that the band had already written some songs for a new album and would start recording sometime later in 2007.^[10]

Children Of Bodom was selected to replace Velvet Revolver for the Monsters of Rock festival, playing on the same stage as Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeth.

Blooddrunk (2007–2009)

Live at 2007's Masters of Rock.

From October to December 2007, Children Of Bodom recorded their sixth studio album, entitled Blooddrunk, which was released on April 15, 2008.^[11] The album contained 10 songs including a cover of "Ghost Riders in the Sky." Children Of Bodom was featured on the Gigantour 2008 North American tour with Megadeth, In Flames, Job for a Cowboy and High on Fire.^[12] Children Of Bodom was one of the first bands to be confirmed for Wacken Open Air 2008, where they performed alongside many bands including Iron Maiden, Sonata Arctica and Avantasia.^[13] Children Of Bodom played at Donington Download on the 15th of June, playing a mixture of old and new songs. On March 8, 2008, Children Of Bodom did their first ever UK signing event at the Zavvi music shop in Oxford Street, London. They signed copies of their new single "Blooddrunk" in CD, 7 inch and 12 inch vinyls,^[14] only 666 copies of the 12 inch vinyls have been made.^[15]

On 26 June 2008, Children Of Bodom played their first show in Auckland, New Zealand with support from local scene acts Dawn of Azazel and Subtract at the Transmission Room.^[16] In 2008, Children Of Bodom's first three studio albums, as well as Tokyo Warhearts, were remastered and re-released with bonus tracks. In September and October 2008, the band toured the USA supporting Blooddrunk with support from The Black Dahlia Murder and Between the Buried and Me. Testament also made a special guest appearance in the main support slot at the tour's New York City date. In November and December 2008, the band toured in Europe supporting Slipknot and Machine Head. From late January to early March 2009, the band also co-headlined the European tour with Cannibal Corpse with Diablo opening for them. On April 2, 2009, Children Of Bodom embarked on the No Fear Energy Tour headlined by Lamb of God with main support from As I Lay Dying and themselves, and rotating opening slots with God Forbid and Municipal Waste, but unfortunately dropped off the tour a week before it was finished following a serious injury Alexi suffered after falling from the top bunk of his tour bus on April 26, 2009, after the show in Palladium Ballroom, Dallas TX. In addition to the injury, on May 8, 2009, at Roseland Ballroom in New York City, Alexi and Children Of Bodom were forced to quit playing after a few of their songs because of Alexi's previous injury. Laiho originally planned to continue touring despite his injury, but was forced to cancel last six dates when any efforts to alleviate the pain failed. All summer festival dates went down as planned and were unaffected by Alexi's injury.^[17][18]

In February 2009, Children Of Bodom hinted at plans to release a cover album entitled Skeletons in the Closet, which was released on September 23, 2009.^[19] They also admitted to being "lazy" when it comes to practicing and talked about plans to have more songs on future albums.^[20] The band embarked on a tour of South America and Mexico in September 2009. Support on the trek came from Amorphis. Also in September and October 2009 the band returned to North America to headline a massive, month-long tour. On most dates support on the trek came from The Black Dahlia Murder and Skeletonwitch. Austrian Death Machine and Holy Grail made a special guest appearance in the main support slot at the tour's second Pomona, California date.^[21][22] In October,18th, 2009, four days after the band's North American tour finale in Honolulu, Hawaii they performed at Japan's Loudpark Festival along with Megadeth, Judas Priest, Slayer, Anthrax, Rob Zombie & Arch Enemy. In the immediate six days following their performance at the Loudpark Festival, they held three shows in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China respectively. They finished their two-month September to October tour in Moscow, Russia. This concluded their year and a half long Blooddrunk World Tour.

Skeletons in the Closet (2009–2010)

Skeletons in the Closet is a cover album released on September 22, 2009. It features covers released on versions of previous albums but also includes four new tracks. Covered artists include Suicidal Tendencies, Britney Spears, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Andrew WK, Billy Idol and Scorpions

Pre-orders through Children Of Bodom's official website included an autographed copy of the album and a T-shirt with the album's design on it.^[23]

Children Of Bodom featured a contest to promote their new album in which anyone could win prizes featuring an ESP/LTD M-53 electric guitar, the band's entire back catalog, and Skeletons in the Closet. The contest ran from August 25 to September 21, 2009. The winners were announced September 28, 2009.

Relentless Reckless Forever (2010–2012)

After the Blooddrunk tour ended, Children Of Bodom started recording their new album. During the recording of the drum tracks there was a small tornado and the power was cut out. Consequently, the recording was delayed until after their tour with Black Label Society. Children Of Bodom released some information to Metal Hammer magazine about new album tracks. The three track names they released were entitled: "Pussyfoot Miss Suicide", "Ugly", and "Was It Worth It?"^[24][25]

In November the band announced "The Ugly World Tour 2011" which would run from March–May 2011 and would feature dates around Europe. Opening Acts were Ensiferum, Machinae Supremacy and Amon Amarth (UK only). On November 24, it was announced that the title of the album would be Relentless Reckless Forever. The album was released on March 8, 2011. A music video for "Was It Worth It?" was produced, featuring skateboarder Chris Cole as well as noted pro skaters Jamie Thomas, Garrett Hill and Tom Asta.^[26] "Was It Worth It?" was released as a downloadable track for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock on February 2, 2011 for European PlayStation 3 owners, and February 8, 2011 for Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii worldwide, as well as non-European PlayStation 3 owners.

Relentless Reckless Forever was certified gold (sold over 10,000 copies) in Finland on the first day of its release, March 9.^[27] As of March 10, the album had sold over 100,000 copies worldwide.^[28]

Halo of Blood (2012–2014)

Halo of Blood is the band's eighth studio album. It was released on June 6 in Europe, June 10 in the United Kingdom and on June 11 in North America. The Mayhem Festival tour alongside Rob Zombie, Mastodon and Amon Amarth was also announced on March 18, 2013.

Music journalist Neil Kelly of PopMatters said in praise of the album, "Death metal could very well re-enter mainstream consciousness through Halo of Blood, the most accessible Children Of Bodom release yet."^[29]

In May 2014, the band toured eastern Australia, visiting Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne with Eye of the Enemy as support, along with Orpheus Omega in Melbourne,and Emergency Gate in Brisbane and Sydney.^[30]

I Worship Chaos (2015–present)

On April 7, 2015, the band announced that they have begun working on the follow-up of Halo of Blood.^[31] On May 29, 2015, the band announced on their Facebook page that Roope Latvala is no longer part of Children Of Bodom with the new album to be recorded as a four piece for the first time.^[32] However, the band later updated that Roope's part in the band will be filled in by Antti Wirman, keyboard player Janne Wirman's younger brother for live commitments until the end of the year; he debuted with the band in a private live show in Helsinki. In a later interview with Janne Wirman, he stated that Antti Wirman would not join the band permanently.^[33]

On June 8, 2015 the album title was announced as 'I Worship Chaos' and was released through Nuclear Blast on October 2, 2015.

On January 19, 2016 the band announced the addition of Daniel Freyberg on guitar.^[34] He would make his live debut with them in Tampa, FL on February 9.

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• Something Wild (1998)
• Hatebreeder (1999)
• Follow the Reaper (2000)
• Hate Crew Deathroll (2003)
• Are You Dead Yet? (2005)
• Blooddrunk (2008)
• Relentless Reckless Forever (2011)
• Halo of Blood (2013)
• I Worship Chaos (2015)

See also

• List of best-selling music artists in Finland

References

External links

• Official website

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