Children of Bodom
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| Origin | Espoo, Finland |
| Years active | 1993-present |
| Genres | Power metal[1] Melodic death metal[2] Melodic black metal[3] |
| Members | Alexi Laiho Roope Latvala Janne Wirman Henkka Seppälä Jaska Raatikainen |
Children of Bodom is an extreme metal band from Espoo, Finland. There is some contention regarding the band's genre classification, but in general the band's musical style can be described as a hybrid of melodic black metal, power metal, and, in later albums, melodic death metal.
The band's earlier releases leaned more towards a power metal style, but recently the band has focused on a style more closely related to melodic death metal. However, several key traits have remained consistent throughout the band's history, such as a focus on rapid tempos and technical guitar and keyboard solos. Other traits, such as Alexi's vocal approach and Jaska's use of blast beats are also consistent across the band's discography. The lyrics of Children of Bodom's songs are written in English and most often are concerned with the subjects of death/The grim reaper, personal struggles, war and the Lake Bodom murders. Recent albums have seen a shift to more antagonistic lyrics (songs such as "You´re Better Off Dead" and "In Your Face") that has alienated some older fans.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
The band was founded in 1993 by guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen under the name of IneartheD. Both musicians had known each other since childhood and had shared an interest in heavy metal, especially death metal bands, such as Stone, Entombed and Obituary. Bassist Samuli Miettinen completed the initial line-up of the band. IneartheD recorded its first demo, titled 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 late 1995, making it impossible for him to remain in the band. His last contribution to IneartheD were the lyrics of the songs from their second demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission. In this demo, keyboards were incorporated into the band's songs for the first time. In order to achieve this, both Alexi and Jaska played the keyboards separately, and subsequently mixed the recorded track with the other instruments. Alexi, who had previously only composed the melodies of the songs, assumed the role of the band's lyricist.
At the time, Jaska played French horn in a local big band, and during a rehearsal he met Alexander Kuoppala, a trumpet player and also a proficient guitarist. Hence, shortly after the recording of their second demo, Alexander was invited to join IneartheD as a rhythm guitarist.
The bassist chosen to replace Samuli was Henkka "Blacksmith" Seppälä, whom Alexi and Jaska had previously met at school. Apart from playing the bass, Henkka 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 musicians 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. 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.
Alexi wanted to make use of the keyboards more effectively this time, and Pirisjoki was not fit for the task anymore; thus, he was fired from the band (albeit not in a hostile manner) and a friend of Jaska's, a talented pianist called Janne "Warman" Wirman, assumed the role of keyboard player.
Janne was the component which was previously missing from IneartheD. His presence allowed the band to assume the style which would later characterise Children of Bodom. With him, the band successfully recorded their first album in 1997. Their debut, Something Wild, was supposed to be released by a small Belgian label, but second vocalist Sami Tenetz (from Thy Serpent) acquired a copy of their album through the hands of Alexander (both musicians 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.
For the band to be able to sign with Spinefarm Records, a new name was required; the contract with the Belgian label had already been signed under the name of IneartheD. The answer to that problem came as the band members looked for good names in their local phone book. When they stumbled upon Lake Bodom, they realized it was a name with impact; 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.
[edit] Something Wild
With the intention of promoting the upcoming release of Something Wild, the band opened one of the shows from the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir in late 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.[4]
Something Wild was officially released in November of 1997, and 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, but managed to convey the band's style rather well. It made use of simple scenery, which consisted essentially of an outdoors location after a snowstorm. There the band played for a couple of hours at night, with an average temperature of minus fifteen degrees Celsius .
Children of Bodom's first European tour began in February of 1998. They played together with bands such as Hypocrisy, The Kovenant and Agathodaimon, but suffered from the absence of Janne, 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, 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 Janne was not able to perform with them. Alexi'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 Alexi to join Sinergy, which at the time was still in its early stages.
[edit] Hatebreeder and Follow the Reaper
The second album, Hatebreeder, was recorded between the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999. 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 of 1999, the success of the "Downfall" single and Hatebreeder allowed Children of Bodom to schedule three concerts in Japan with Sinergy and veteran band In Flames. During two of these concerts the live album Tokyo Warhearts was recorded, and in it the band managed to seamlessly reproduce and at times improve on their songs, a notable achievement for a band with only two albums recorded previously. Under their request, no overdubs were used on the recording of the concert.
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, in which they had recorded all of their previous releases, including the demos from IneartheD. The band wrote eight new songs for this album, and while in the studio decided to include an extra track, which was hastily composed and featured lyrics improvised by Alexi; 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 of 2000; the album saw a worldwide release in early 2001. A music video for "Everytime I Die" was recorded by Finnish director Tuukka Temonen shortly after.
[edit] Hate Crew Deathroll and Are You Dead Yet?
In February of 2002, Children of Bodom began writing songs for their upcoming album, entitled Hate Crew Deathroll. Recording ensued during the month of August, 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, even though all of their albums eventually reached this status, with Follow the Reaper reaching platinum status.
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: Alexander decided to quit Children of Bodom for personal reasons right in the middle of the tour without giving previous warning. Griffin's guitarist Kai Nergaard was invited by Alexi to replace Alexander, 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.
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 cover of the Britney Spears song "Oops!... I Did It Again" as a joke. 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, 16th in Sweden and 17th 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.
Children of Bodom's new DVD "Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout Live" was released on October 10, 2006. It mainly focuses on the February 5, 2006 live concert in Stockholm, Sweden, with over 90 minutes of live footage. It also contains every official video Children of Bodom has ever made, excluding the Needled 24/7 promo. Source
In June of 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 US through June and July and Europe through October and November.
Currently, Children of Bodom are headlining a US tour. Amon Amarth, Sanctity and Gojira are playing as supporting acts.
[edit] Genre controversy
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Children of Bodom's genre classification is highly debated amongst fans and critics alike. Some debate that the band is part of several musical genres, including blackened power metal, melodic death metal, neo-classical metal, progressive metal, melodic black metal, power metal, speed metal, and thrash metal.
Some sources claim the band is 'extreme power metal', due to the band's overarching use of power metal elements throughout their discography, and their use of extreme metal elements combined with these. Others feel the band has no association with death metal or black metal, due to the bands lack of integration into the scenes associated with either genre. Some claim the band as thrash metal, due to some of their influences on early albums being thrash metal bands, and their first albums sharing some sonic similarity with thrash metal songs. Others discount all of the above suggestions, claiming the band as a speed metal band due to the use of high tempos akin to power metal and thrash metal. Several people also claim Children of Bodom are 'Blackened Power metal', though this is seen by some as an entirely apocryphal genre. Another possible description of their music would be 'Power Death metal'.
Alexi Laiho, the lead guitarist of the band, is reluctant to categorize their music as anything more specific than metal that is not power metal (though in one interview, he does not dismiss the black metal elements, claiming that his "roots are in black metal to give them a heavier sound than everyone else").[5]
[edit] Trivia
- Children of Bodom's symbol is the Grim Reaper — jokingly nicknamed Roy by the band.
- They often refer to themselves as the "Hate Crew".
- Most of the band's lyrical content is not printed on the album booklets, thus at times leaving the words up for the listener to interpret.
- The single Children of Bodom included, in addition to the title track, the songs "Repent (Whore)" by Cryhavoc and "Iron, Steel, Metal" by Wizzard which are both mistaken to be covers performed by Children of Bodom.
- After the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, several European tabloids, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and Expressen, published an old promotional photo of Children of Bodom, claiming them to be Lordi "unmasked". The confusion stemmed from Erna Siikavirta being included in the photo; she went on to be one of the original members of Lordi. [1]
- The song entitled Needled 24/7 has a quote from the 1986 Oliver Stone film, Platoon.
- In the original version of the album Something Wild, there is a hidden 8th track called "Bruno the Pig". It is just 11 seconds of silence.
- The oldest version of the album "Something Wild" has a very different Children Of Bodom logo on it, being blue and written in wavy & bold lowercase letters. Contrary to popular belief in new fanbase it's not a pirated version.
- Although a worldwide recognized band, they still rehearse in Nosturi, a Helsinki city subsidized band practice location.
- It is thought that the world record for number of crowdsurfers carried over a barrier was broken at their Tuska 2005 performance with a total of over 2000 members of the audience successfully making it over the barrier during COB's set.
[edit] Covers
- "No Commands" by Stone (Downfall single and Japanese edition of Hatebreeder)
- "Mass Hypnosis" by Sepultura (Sepultural Feast - a Tribute to Sepultura [2] and Japanese edition of Something Wild)
- "Don't Stop At The Top" by the Scorpions (Deluxe edition of Something Wild and Finnish deluxe edition of Follow the Reaper)
- "Shot In The Dark" by Ozzy Osbourne (Japanese edition of Follow the Reaper)
- "Hellion" by W.A.S.P. (Hate Me single and European/US deluxe edition of Follow the Reaper)
- "Aces High" by Iron Maiden (A Tribute to the Beast [3])
- "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" by The Ramones (You're Better off Dead single, Japanese edition of Hate Crew Deathroll and U.S. edition of Are You Dead Yet?)
- "Silent Scream" by Slayer (Deluxe edition of Something Wild, Needled 24/7 single and deluxe edition of Hate Crew Deathroll)
- "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol (Bestbreeder and the UK edition of Are You Dead Yet?)
- "Latomeri" by Klamydia (Seokset EP)
- "Bed Of Nails" by Alice Cooper (Trashed, Lost and Strungout EP)
- "She Is Beautiful" by Andrew W.K. (Trashed, Lost and Strungout EP)
- "Oops, I Did It Again..." by Britney Spears (In Your Face single and Japanese edition of Are You Dead Yet?)
- "Talk Dirty To Me" by Poison (Japanese edition of Are You Dead Yet?)
- "Were Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister ('Live in Valencia' 2001)
[edit] Quotes
- The quotation "From now on we're enemies - you and I" from "Warheart" (Hatebreeder) is taken from the movie Amadeus (Alexi's favourite movie), from the character of Antonio Salieri, played by F. Murray Abraham. Janne Wirman also used another quotation from this movie on the Accept The Fact album.
- The quotation "Death? What do you all know about death?" as a preface to "Sixpounder" (Hate Crew Deathroll) is taken from the movie Platoon, from the character of Sgt. Bob Barnes, played by Tom Berenger.
- The quotation "My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone, in fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape." as an ending to "Bodom Beach Terror" and preface to Angels Don't Kill (Hate Crew Deathroll) is taken from the movie American Psycho, from the character of Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale.
- The quotation from "Follow the Reaper": "Death, be not proud, though some have called thee\ Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so." is from the work Holy Sonnet X, of the 17th century poet John Donne.
- The quotation from "The Nail" (Something Wild) "Your eyes are full of hate, 41. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive, it gives him strength.", is from the 1959 biblical epic film, Ben-Hur, and the sound playing in the back is from the opening scene of the horror film A Nightmare On Elm Street.
- The quotation from the song "Follow the Reaper", "I was only 21 when I died." is from the movie The Exorcist 3, from a friend of the detective played by George C. Scott.
- The quotation from the song "Taste of my Scythe" on Follow the Reaper,"..and rip and cut and mutilate the innocent. His friends, again and again and on and on..." is from the movie The Exorcist 3 and is Fr. Karas/the Devil's character/the Gemini killer played by Brad Dourif.
- The intro of Deadnight Warrior is from the TV Movie Stephen King's It
[edit] Current line-up
- Alexi Laiho - Vocals, Lead and Rhythm guitar
- Roope Latvala - Lead and Rhythm guitar
- Janne Wirman - Keyboards
- Henkka Seppälä - Bass
- Jaska Raatikainen - Drums
[edit] Former members
- Alexander Kuoppala - Rhythm guitar (1993-2003)
- Jani Pirisjoki - Keyboards (1995-1997)
- Samuli Miettinen - Bass (1993-1995)
- Erna Siikavirta - Keyboards (1998 European Tour,with Alexis Leroy)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio and live albums
 (Live CD) |
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[edit] References
- ^ Metal Storm - Children of Bodom. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
- ^ Children of Bodom. Rockdetector. Retrieved on 2006-05-20.
- ^ Children of Bodom. MP3.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-20.
- ^ Children of Bodom's official biography
- ^ Interview with Alexi Laiho at Metalunderground.com
