On December 15, 2019, Children of Bodom played their final show in the Helsinki Ice Hall. A fitting venue for the Finnish band who had been plying their trade of Melodic Death Metal with a distinct influence of Classic Hard Rock for over twenty years.
Finnish melodic death metallers, Children of Bodom, are to release the closing album of their career. A Chapter Called… Children of Bodom (Final Show in Helsinki Ice Hall 2019) is a full live recording of their farewell performance, four years ago, featuring sadly deceased founding member and guitarist, Alexi Laiho. It is due out on 15th December via Spinefarm Records.
I’m not going to start this write-up and pretend like I have a solution for grief or that I’ve made peace with the fact that Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder is no longer with us. As of this writing, it’s been nearly a week since his passing and frankly, I’m still trying to process that. Telling myself that it can’t be true since I’ve seen Strnad and his bandmates have seemingly all the fun onstage at least seven times.
In time I’ll accept what has occurred. But let’s take a look back.
There’s a fine line between “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “there’s always room for improvement”, and more often than not the re-recording of old albums usually falls snugly into the former category. No matter how much more accomplished the revised version might sound from a technical standpoint, the overall results rarely change. Lightning in a bottle cannot be captured twice.
FRIDAY
With energy levels and festival excitement still high, quality acts such as Welsh black metallers Agrona, Norfolk thrashers Shrapnel, Liverpool doom/sludge merchants Conan, and a reinvigorated and retooled Evile invade the Sophie Lancaster Stage, decimating all before them. Birmingham grindcore legends Napalm Death complete the day’s entertainment with a reliably devastating set, the crowd gathered outside the tent almost as huge as the one inside.
Recorded towards the end of 2020, Paint The Sky With Blood (Napalm Records) was meant to signal the beginning of a new era in the career of Bodom After Midnight frontman Alexi Laiho. His first release since leaving the groundbreaking Finnish melodic death metal act Children of Bodom the previous year should have been the beginning of an exciting new journey. Instead, his tragic death in late December means it ultimately becomes an epitaph.
With the news of the sudden passing of guitar hero and Melodic Death Metal leader Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom and recently Bodom After Midnight, stars from across the music world have shared their condolences and memories. A who’s who of artists paid respects, as well as press notices from his current label Napalm Records, and his former label Nuclear Blast Records as well.
Children of Bodom founder Alexi Laiho has formed a new band, Bodom After Midnight! The group will make its live debut this summer! Also in the group are guitarist Daniel Freyberg (ex-Children Of Bodom), drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (Paradise Lost), bassist Mitja Toivonen (ex-Santa Cruz) and touring keyboardist Lauri Salomaa. Children of Bodom, in its last form, announced it would not continue after their final show in late 2019, ending that era, Laiho needed a new project. IT is expected that Bodom After Midnight will perform COB material live this summer, before writing originals for a future release. Laiho’s popular memoir, Chaos, Control & Guitar, which has shipped 11,000 copies and is only avaialble as of now in Finish, will come out in English in May from Johnny Kniga, an imprint of Werner Söderström Ltd.Continue reading
In an effort to clear the air of misconceptions by fans and media, the three former members of Children of Bodom have issued a statement less than two months after announcing their departures from the band. Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henri “Henkka T. Blacksmith” Seppälä (bass) and Janne Wirman (keyboards) have confirmed that they are still the rightful owners of the COB brand. On November 1st, Raatikainen, Seppälä and Wirman issued a statement saying that they would leave the band after playing the final show of the band’s Finnish tour on December 15 at the Black Box in Helsinki Ice Hall. A short time later, Finnish music magazine Soundi reported that the rights to the Children of Bodom name are held by AA & Sewira Consulting Oy, the company owned by Raatikainen, Seppälä and Wirman. On June 28, the trio filed an application with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, and their application was subsequently granted for a five-year period starting on October 1. As a result, Alexi Laiho, who is Children of Bodom’s singer, guitarist and main songwriter, isn’t authorized to use the band’s name without permission from Wirman, Raatikainen and Seppälä. Read the statement from the three members below.Continue reading
Deep in the Underground Atlanta, the city’s favorite entertainment district rests When you mention this venue’s name, most alternative artists will know exactly where you’re talking about. This iconic, massive building has three indoor venues that are cleverly called Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The largest room, Heaven, opened its doors last Thursday for the mighty Children of Bodom. Finland’s Melodic Death Metal masters, CoB recently released their tenth studio album, Hexed. This run of North American shows is promoting this new record and the band brought some fantastic Finnish friends to play with them. Along with Swallow the Sun and Wolfheart, Hotlanta was in for a night of sweet, savage, Scandinavian Metal. Continue reading