Alexi Wildchild Laiho

Children of Bodom is a 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 cross between power metal and gothenburg metal. Their name was derived from the Lake Bodom murders.

The band was founded in 1993 by guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen under the name of IneartheD. 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 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 known from 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 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 and Pirisjoki was not fit for the task anymore; thus, he was fired from the band.

A friend of Jaska, 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 acquired a copy of their album through the hands of Alexander, 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 the Belgian label had already been signed under the name of IneartheD. The answer to that problem came as, 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!!!!!!

1997-1998
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.
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. 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 Alexi 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, Alexi had tried to mimick the style of one of his idols, Yngwie Malmsteen, which is why Something wild is considered one of the most technical albums Bodom have ever produced.

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.


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.

TRIVIA:
*In the Hatebreeder album booklet, the song title Bed of Razors is misspelled as "Bed of Razorz"
*Follow the Reaper is the only album to date by Children of Bodom to have their logo at the bottom of the artwork. *All other releases including singles and DVDs have the logo at the top.
*Children of Bodom's symbol is the Grim Reaper — jokingly nicknamed Roy by the band. Roy is a person in a picture in the film Hot Shots.
*They often refer to themselves and their fans as the "Hate Crew".
*Most of the lyrics are not printed in the album booklets.
*The song entitled "Needled 24/7" has a quotation 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 only 11 seconds of silence
*Contrary to popular belief, Children of Bodom has never covered the songs "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden or "The Final Countdown" by Europe. "The Trooper" was actually covered by the band Sentenced, and 'The Final Countdown' has been done by the bands Norther and Dispatched.
*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
*A cover of the Miami Vice theme song was included in the early version of the album Something Wild.
*Entitled "Coda", this secret track can be heard after the song "Touch Like An Angel Of Death".
*Children Of Bodom's Tour Manager Ewo Rytkonen stepped in when the actor for the "Every Time I Die" video fell sick, Ewo ended up putting on the costume and playing the part of the reaper.
*At the beginning of "Oops...I Did It Again", Alexi quickly says "Cause you lose all...Perkele". "Perkele" is a popular Finnish swear word.
*At 1:33 of the song "Black Widow", you can hear Alexi *Laiho's wife Kimberly Goss shortly scream in the background of the song.
*At 2:22 In "Mass Hypnosis" (Sepultura Cover), the guitar riff is changed to something similar to the "Lake Bodom" intro.
**The intro before 'Touch Like Angel of Death' used on the 'Tokyo Warhearts' album is taken from 'Hummel Gets the Rockets', again from the soundtrack for The Rock
**To become a member of the Children of Bodom Hate Crew you need to stand on your head while the band pours alcohol into your mouth. If the alcohol comes out of your nose, you are initiated. Some members of tour mates Lamb of God are certified members of the Children of Bodom Hate Crew.


Name : Alexi Laiho
Birth Name : Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho
Nickname : Allu, Wildchild.
Birth Date : April 8, 1979
Birth Place : Espoo, Finland
Sex : Male
Nationality : Finnish
Height : 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Hair Color : Brown
Eye Color : Blue
Zodiac Sign : Aries
Sexual Orientation : Straight (Except for when he's making out with Janne hahah)
Race or Ethnicity : White
Profession : Musician, Singer & Songwriter
Years active : 1993 – Present
Labels : Spinefarm, Nuclear Blast, Century Media
Instruments : Guitar, Vocals
Notable Instruments : ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Models Jackson Rhoads RR24
Associated acts : Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Kylähullut, Impaled Nazarene
Major Genres : Melodic death metal, Power metal, Speed metal, Neo-classical metal, Black metal
Sister : Anna
Claim to Fame : As Lead guitarist and vocalist for melodic death metal band "Children of Bodom"
Credits : Guitar World magazine has ranked him among the top 50 fastest guitar players in the world[
Other Bands : Sinergy, Kylähullut
Former Bands : Inearthed, Thy Serpent, Impaled Nazarene
Favourite Albums : W.A.S.P - W.A.S.P, Steve Vai -Passion And Warfare, Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute To Randy Rhoads, Stone - No Anasthesia!, System Of A Down - Mesmerize, Pantera - a Vulgar Display Of Power, Black Label Society - The Blessed Hellride
Favourite Drink : Jameson, Jack Daniel´s, White Russians
Freetime Back Home : Party hard, play video games, fuck around with cars, sleep
Favourite Bands : Ozzy, Manowar, W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Stone, Darkthrone, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Impaled Nazarene, Suicidal Tendencies, Stratovarius, Annihilator, Nine Inch Nails, Mötley Crüe, System Of A Down, Shadows Fall, Black Label Society, Pantera
Equipment : ESP guitars, Seymour Duncan pickups, Lee Jackson pre amps, VHT power amps, DR strings, Dunlop picks
Musical influences : Nine Inch Nails, Mötley Crüe, Stone, Obituary, System Of A Down, Shadows Fall, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Label Society
Metal Influences : Roope Latvala, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Jeff Waters, Paul Gilbert, Dimebag Darrell
Other Musical Influences : Ramones, Sex Pistols, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven