CHILDREN OF BODOM
They were the former schoolmates who put Finnish metal on the map in the late 90s. But the demons that drove frontman Alexi Laiho would destroy the band – and the singer himself
On December 15, 2019, Children Of Bodom played their final show. It had been announced six weeks earlier that drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä and keyboard player Janne Wirman –who had played on every Bodom album since their 1997 debut, Something Wild –had quit the band to “change direction within their lives”, leaving guitarist Daniel Freyberg and frontman Alexi Laiho to carry on without them.
The show took place at the Helsinki Ice Hall, a short drive from the town of Espoo, where schoolfriends Alexi and Jaska had formed Children Of Bodom 26 years earlier. It was a bittersweet night, but there was a note of tension too. Despite the diplomatic wording of the statement announcing the trio’s departure, the truth was that Alexi’s alcohol and substance abuse problems had driven a wedge between him and his bandmates, prompting the splintering of the band.
“It was a weird, emotional thing,” admits Janne Wirman today. “Right before we went on, I hugged Alexi and I was just struck by the realisation it was the last time I would ever play those songs. With how Alexi was at that point there was no guarantee he wouldn’t choose to fuck it up on purpose either, but he did great. It was emotional, but I was also so relieved because I had gotten so tired of Alexi’s problems.”
Alexi and Daniel carried on working together under the name Bodom After Midnight, but the Helsinki gig would be the last time any of them played as Children Of Bodom. It was the end of the road for a band who had helped put Finnish metal on the global map and who, in their singer and guitarist, featured one of the most talented and charismatic musicians of his generation. Just over a year later, Alexi was dead, his demons simply too strong for his booze-ravaged body.
Arecording of that final show has just been released as the live album, AChapter Called Children Of Bodom. It’s the sound of a band in full flight against all the odds, and a reminder of just how important and influential they –and Alexi Laiho –really were.
No one can quite remember who gave Alexi Laiho the nickname ‘Wildchild’. He may even have given it to himself. But it suited him perfectly. Born in Espoo on April 8, 1979, he was a musical prodigy from an early age. He began learning violin aged seven, but became infatuated with the guitar after his older sister, Anna, introduced him to such larger-than-life bands as Twisted Sister, Guns N’ Roses and W.A.S.P. (the latter’s song Wild Child would inspire that nickname).
Gifted a Tokai Stratocaster when he was 11, Alexi would spend just about every free hour he ha
