COB live in 2010

Although they've only recently completed 18 months of gruelling globe-trotting for Blooddrunk, and are soon to begin writing and recording a new album, Children Of Bodom (currently enjoying some well-earned downtime) already have some show dates in the diary for 2010 ...

April in Finland
They've spent a lot of time abroad recently, but to show their Finnish fans they're not forgotten, the band will play three dates in their home country in April, starting in Tampere on the 8th (enjoy your birthday, Alexi!) and continuing with Oulu and Vuokatti on the 9th and 10th. Tickets on sale now; check cobhc.com for details.

Grim and tr00 ... or just br00tal!
COB are also confirmed amongst the headliners for the 2010 Brutal Assault Festival, held on 12th-14th August in the Czech Republic.


The follow-up to the hugely successful Blooddrunk album will be the band's seventh studio recording. At the beginning of 2010 they'll start working on the new material in their rehearsal place, with the studio booked for early summer.

LA Chi Cheng benefit

As one door closes ... Alexi should have been in Houston with Hypocrisy on November 20th but even though the Swedish death metallers had been forced to drop off the Ensiferum tour due to visa problems, the COB frontman was not left kicking his heels. Instead, he took the opportunity to help raise funds for Deftones' Chi Cheng's medical bills, after a horrific car crash last year left the bassist in a coma for several months.


The Chi Cheng Benefit Show was held over two nights at the Avalon Theater in Los Angeles, and on the second night Alexi took to the stage as part of a veritable supergroup that included, as well as the Deftones themselves, musicians from metal's elite such as Shavo Odajian and Daron Malakian from System of a Down, Dillinger Escape Plan's Greg Puciato, Dave Lombardo from Slayer and no less than Metallica's Robert Trujillo, for a blistering performance of the opening track "Battery" from the seminal "Master of Puppets" album.


The two-night event was a huge success, and, together with the proceeds from an online auction, the goal of raising a six-figure sum for Chi Cheng is likely to have been reached.

The devil's in the detail ...

The much anticipated/abhorred (delete as appropriate, depending upon which fan-camp you happen to be in) Hypocrisy/Alexi Laiho collaboration due to roll across North America with Ensiferum from November to early December failed to materialise.

Just days before the tour was due to start, on November 6th, Hypocrisy issued a statement informing fans that their departure for the US was being held up due to problems with the US Immigration Service processing their work visas, but that they hoped to join the tour as soon as possible. As tour dates came and went without Hypocrisy, there were suggestions that two band members, the drummer and bassist, plus Alexi Laiho, were already in the US. Peter Tägtgren, however, remained marooned in Sweden. It seems that a small error in the spelling of his name on the visa application may have been the cause of his problems, and the band was eventually forced to drop off all the remaining dates and officially cancel the tour.

And the winner isn't ...

As the Scythes Of Bodom blog reported previously, Metal injection.net held a competition recently, in which entrants had the chance to win an ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Series Ltd AL-600, by impersonating Alexi in a video. We wondered whether Alexi would be one of the judges, and, sure enough, when the winner was announced at the beginning of December, it was revealed that Alexi had, indeed, sifted through all the entries and picked his favourite (who, incidentally, bore more than a passing resemblance to the shred-meister himself). Only problem was, the winner was not from the US, and was therefore ineligible (an alternative was hastily found) - doh!

Slave to the grind

Alexi Laiho is not the only COB member who, from time to time, lends his not-inconsiderable talents on other bands' albums. Roope Latvala has also been indulging in a little musical moonlighting, on the upcoming new release from Finnish Gothic/Black Metal outfit, Soulgrind. A former Soulgrind guest musician, Roope has helped out with a couple of leads on the band's ninth album, "The Tuoni Pathway". Commented Soulgrind's founding guitarist, Lord Heikkinen, "it took two months to complete ... nine tracks of beauty, heaviness and darkness ... it is one helluva album."

"The Tunoni Pathway" is expected to be released in early 2010.

... And the Circus Leaves Town

By now, if they're Not Dead Yet, they must be Living Dead Beat. They've spent the best part of the last two years touring Blooddrunk and there surely have been times when they've been Trashed, Lost and Strungout and Needled 24/7, but soon Children Of Bodom will start the long trek home, Towards some Northern Comfort, before they disappear In The Shadows, to write the new album and return with ... Something Wild?

But right now, the tour goes on ... how has it been so far?

With a gap of five years since Children Of Bodom last appeared in South America, there was plenty of pent-up anticipation amongst the band's loyal followers there, and it was given full expression at the shows in Buenos Aires, Santiago and Sao Paulo - a great start to the tour, even with some technical problems, "old, bad gear and a semi brain dead crew", and occasional random looneys like the one outside the venue in Buenos Aires demanding tobacco from K-Man and Franky: when his request was denied he responded with a not-so-polite, 5-minute "fuck you" rant, repeated over and over again in some weird-sounding voice, much to the guys' amusement!


Next stop Mexico City, and after a 16-hour commute the band performed shows over 2 nights to a total of 4500 people. On both nights (the second of which happened to coincide with Mexico's 200th Independence Day celebrations) the crowd were going ape, "when they jumped, the whole stage bounced", said K-Man. After a problem-free appearance the following day at a festival in Monterrey, the band headed off for the North American leg of the tour ...


The Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, New Jersey is located ... well, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it's packed with around 2,000 commited and eager fans - well, all except the one who felt the need to spit on Alexi's guitar - not a good move ("my guitar gets more pussy than your fucking 86 Camero", Alexi berated him). It is in just such venues that Children Of Bodom have worked tirelessly around the US over the years, and their efforts have been rewarded, with Blooddrunk storming in at No.22 in the US Top 40 in the first week of its release, a major achievement in such a huge market and for a band that can hardly be described as mainstream.


On to Canada, and at the Montreal show (which seems to have been universally acclaimed by those who attended as "fucking awesome"!) much to the fans' delight, the surprise inclusion of Kissing The Shadows as encore - who could ask for more? The Toronto show was just as well received, Winnipeg another sold-out event. The show in Edmonton, according to K-Man "was off the hook, best this whole tour", (although a fan coming over the barricade and splitting his head open on the sound-man's rack perhaps not a highlight) and Vancouver the day after also sold-out. The Seattle date was a home-town show for K-Man, who got to hang out with his Mom and some friends - good times.


So far this tour has, thankfully, been free of any major injuries. In May on the No Fear tour, the somewhat accident-prone Alexi fell from his top bunk on the tour bus, breaking his shoulder and a rib, and suffering internal bleeding, which eventually forced the band to cancel the remaining five dates (he has been sleeping in the bottom bunk this time around). Roope has been targeted again by the mysterious finger-fairy (but Crazy Glue is his friend!) and Jaska suffered a problem with a trapped nerve that delayed the start of the performance at the San Francisco show, but, according to the band's latest twitter update, all seems to be well now.


And so to Hawaii - sun, sand, snorkelling, surfing ... oh yes, and there's a show to do! COB are Pipeline Cafe virgins but it's not every day that a band of this calibre puts in an appearance and when they hit the stage at 11:30 it's to an appropriately enthusiastic reception from the appreciative audience, who would have been quite happy for the performance to continue well past the 1:30 finish time. There are a few technical issues sound-wise but the show goes well: "in-fucking-sane", "they fucking rule live" and "the mosh pit was crazy" are just some of the comments from the well-satisfied crowd.


Ahead are dates in Japan, China and finally, Russia, before it's all over, the touring for Blooddrunk is done and the band returns to "sweet home Helsinki". In recent interviews, Alexi has said they will start writing songs for the new album early next year and enter the studio in May. As always, he has "a bunch of ideas and riffs, and shit like that in my head" and, according to Jaska, "Alexi has already composed one or two songs which sound really great". So, 2011 - expect the new Children Of Bodom opus. And then, of course, the touring starts all over again ...

He just can't get enough ...

Seems like Alexi still has an appetite for life on the road, even after having spent most of the last two years taking the COBHC show to fans around the world. Just a couple of weeks after the final date of touring for Blooddrunk, the COB frontman gets back on the bus again, but this time as guest second guitarist for Swedish death metallers, Hypocrisy on their upcoming North American outing.


Alexi and Hypocrisy-mainman Peter Tägtgren are old friends and collaborators: on their first tour in 1998, at the Nuclear Blast festival, COB played as support for Hypocrisy. Tägtgren helped out with vocals' production and recording on Blooddrunk, while Alexi has contributed a guitar solo on one of Tägtgren's albums with his other band, Pain. And although Alexi will be without his COB bandmates, there's one thing he won't have to miss: "There will be no shortage of alcohol on this tour, that's for sure", commented Tägtgren.


Some Hypocrisy fans are less than thrilled with the announcement, questioning whether Alexi is an appropriate choice, and apparently fearing he will steal the show. Whatever, it sure won't hurt ticket sales.

The tour, which also includes headliners Ensiferum, kicks off on November 6th in Springfield, Virginia.

One for the road?

Janne Warman's other band, Warmen, recently released their fourth studio album, Japanese Hospitality and the album has entered the Finnish charts at No. 36. Replete with songs this time, rather than the more usual keyboard-led instrumentals, this album finally seems to position the band firmly as a band, rather than just the COB-keyboardist's side project. In a recent interview with BW&BK, Janne commented: "Everybody’s been saying that Warmen finally sounds like a band with this one and I agree. Warmen has found it’s path, I guess you could say.” Not only that, but, with Children Of Bodom due to spend a large part of next year working on the follow-up to the hugely successful Blooddrunk album, he also mooted the tantalising prospect of some live Warmen action: "The line-up is constant and some of the singers are open to doing shows. I could see it happening, but the thing is that Warmen isn’t a known band at all so we’d have to do a mini-tour of some kind. I’d love to do it, and now that Bodom is going to have a break to write new material I’m going to see if there’s any possibilities for us to do a short tour.” Bring it, Janne!

Warmen performing at SpineFeast at Sea, 2008

So you think you could be Alexi ...

US fans have the chance to win an ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Series LTD AL-600 Scythe guitar by impersonating Alexi, in a competition just announced by Metal Injection.net. The winning video (entries must be submitted by 31st October) will be the one that, in the judges' opinion, captures the quintessential moves, gestures, mannerisms and even make-up of the COB frontman in the most amusing/creative/original way. Will it be pain or pleasure watching the entries - and will Alexi be one of the judges? You have nothing to lose but your dignity!

The lighter side of heavy metal

To coincide with the September release of their much-anticipated covers album, Skeletons In The Closet, COB released a promo video for the Creedence Clearwater Revival track, Lookin' Out My Back Door. With tongue firmly in cheek, and a touch of the humour that flavours many of their cover choices, the video itself is a cover of the Creedence original. It has a real 'feel-good' factor - they seem to be having a lot of fun, and it's impossible to watch without a smile on your face - who says metal has to be serious all the time!


In a recent Soundshock interview, Alexi explained the thinking behind the album's release: "There's two reasons why we did the covers album. First of all, loads of people kept asking where they could find the covers, some of them seemed hard to find and weren’t ALL on previous albums. We decided to bring out a covers album so that the fans could have all the covers in one place. Also, the timing is right. We aren't writing anything new just yet and it just seemed a good time to do this; I think its pretty good".


Sadly, there seem to be no plans to do a tour in support of the album - "I can not see that happening somehow", Alexi laughs, although he did float the possibility of some UK dates next year: "Nothing’s been confirmed...nothing is definite. But we love playing in the UK and hope to be back soon, it would be pretty cool."

'Skeletons' managed to crack the top ten in Finland and hit the charts at #9, while in the US it entered the Billboard 200 chart at #81, with sales of 5,600 copies in the first week of its release!

On the road again ... and COB hit the ground running

In the run-up to the band's departure from Helsinki to Buenos Aires, there had been an exhausting round of preparations that included numerous trips to various embassies to get the necessary visas; innoculations (and their after-effects) to be suffered; shipping documents for the backline to be obtained. It all got done, of course, and on departure day itself, after a very early morning start to the airport to get all their gear checked in, there was just the monotony of a 13-hour flight to be got through. But, as sound tech K-Man describes in his latest blog entry, things livened up maybe just a bit too much towards the end of the journey, with some hardcore tubulence that sent food, drinks and even the stewardess flying.



September 8th, and 7806 Av Rivadavia was the place to be when the final countdown of Children Of Bodom's tour for their best-selling latest album, Blooddrunk, kicked off at Teatro Flores. A rather chilly evening in Buenos Aires but the heat was turned up to eleven inside the venue as the assembled crowd left no-one in any doubt about how much they welcomed the band's return to South America after five long years.

The headlining show included songs from all of the band's six studio albums (see pic of setlist, with thanks to K-Man), with Bed Of Razors and Hate Crew Deathroll enthusiastically-received encores.



This was the first date of the tour that will keep the band on the road until October 24, with shows in South America, North America, the Far East and Russia, and it seems they have set the bar pretty high from the get-go: K-Man: "the crowd in Buenos Aires was off the hook - great fucking show".

OBITUARY - The R.A.P.E. of SOB

For whatever reason, on August 27th, the Children Of Bodom fan site, Scythes Of Bodom, was taken down.

In the absence of any other explanation, this appears to have been a Random Act of Petulant Extirpation that took COB fans completely by surprise, and even the SOB 'slaves'/volunteers who contributed to the site were totally unaware of its impending demise (although the fact that no news or updates had been added to the site for several months ought to have aroused concerns).

The site, which was originally conceived back in 2002, was held in high esteem, and rightly so, by COB fans, for the veracity, depth and breadth of its content. The various sections of the main site included latest news and news archives, band members' biographies, discography, tour archives, interviews, guitar specifications, photographs, messageboard, and more, while the regularly updated Murder Archives catalogued, in an easily accessible A-Z format, all kinds of essential information for the hardcore COB follower, including a diary-style synopsis of each year's important events.

Quite simply, if it wasn't on SOB, it didn't happen, wasn't true or wasn't worth knowing.

But now, it's gone. We can only hope that all of the effort that went into building, developing and maintaining this much-loved resource and its content over the years has been preserved somewhere, and that maybe one day it will be resurrected, to return as enigmatically as it disappeared.

R.I.P. SOB

They are the real, motherfucking hate crew

A quickie with ... K-Man

In an occasional series of quick-fire questions, the Scythes Of Bodom blog
goes backstage to get the inside track on the well-oiled machine that is
the real Children Of Bodom hatecrew. We start with the band's affable (and
indispensable) monitor engineer, Kal (K-Man) Kaercher.

Live sound mixing involves combining and processing a number of audio
signals to create a "mix" that the audience or performers at a live show hear; having the sound manipulated, or mixed, in real time is necessary, as constant minor adjustments are needed.

The monitor engineer mixes the sound that the performers hear on stage,
from a console typically placed at the side of the stage, enabling them to
hear themselves and any other parts of the performance as needed. Usually, each performer has their own individual mix that is custom tailored by the monitor engineer. Many bands opt to use In Ear Monitor (IEM) systems, which are a pair of headphones custom moulded for each musician's ears, which allows them to hear their individual mix more clearly.

Additionally, the live sound engineer is responsible for the set up and
tear down of the sound system. This will involve unloading the equipment,
moving it all into the venue, setting up the systems and then
sound-checking, when all instruments and mics are line checked to insure a
clean signal to the board. After the show is done, the live sound
engineers and techs must tear down and load out the sound system for the
next show on the tour.

And as if all that wasn't enough, sound engineering is as much an art as a
science, as there are a number of different ways that the mix can be done,
and different ways that the mix can sound ... an understanding of music is
also a requirement.

So, it's not all beer and bus parties on the road with COB, then ...

How did you get started as a sound-man?/what qualifications do you need?
For me, the first concert I went to at age 11, which was the Doobie Brothers in Seattle. While going to the seats with my parents we walked past the FOH mixing board and told my Mom right then "That's what I want to do!" After getting out of school my plan was to go to the Art Institute of Seattle for audio classes. Fortunate for me I got hooked up with a guy named Buddah who told me "Well you can do the school thing and I will still have to re-teach you later the real and right way of doing things, or just come learn from me now and get paid for it". So I went to work with Buddah. As far as qualifications... Hmm. I would say 60% or more of my job is getting along with the band and co-workers, then also really knowing your shit of course, oh and have a liver made of titanium!

How long have you worked with COB?
I have been with the guys since September of 2005. Never missed a show ;)

Do you have technical rehearsals (audio and lighting) with the band before a tour?
Very fucking rarely. In the time I have worked for them we have done that about 5 times, maybe less.

How long does it take to set up for a show (OK, reality check: how long do you actually get?!)
If we do our normal pace, 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Have done it in 45 including full line check.

Analogue or digital mixer - what floats your boat?
Now days, due to how much stuff I have going on with the guys, DIGITAL!!! But I do love the sound of a good analogue desk.

How many different types of digital mixing desk do you have to be familiar with?
In reality all of them but currently about 15.

How much of your own time do you spend in preparation for a show, for example, computer presets?
Depending on the software, anywhere from 5 to 7 hours to have a relatively show ready file. That only needs to be done once per mixing desk. After that everything is stored on USB or other types of cards.

Which of the band members use IEMs and do you mix all of them?
Henkka, Jaska, and Janne all use in-ears. Also two of the backline tech's and myself. Janne has always used them, Henkka and Jaska just started this year on them. Alexi and Roope use only stage wedges and side fills. 8 stage mixes minimum just for those 2 guys. With bigger stages and different stage set layouts it can go up to 10. And yup, I mix it all.

Do they have any problems with latency/propagation delay?
None at all. Well, not to the human ear anyway.

Do the venue acoustics change appreciably after the soundcheck, once it's filled with the audience?
80% of the venues, yes. Standard rule of acoustics... People suck... up the room noise ;)

What's the most challenging problem you've had to sort out during a show?
The biggest ones have always come down to one thing. Power. Goes out, starts buzzes, too low and makes gear freak out, blah blah blah. It can cause more problems then I can count.

How do you spend your time when COB are off-road?
I work with a couple other Finn bands, have done some side work with Megadeth, but mostly try to sit on my couch in my undies. Not a good visual BTW. Well unless you're into lazy, married American dudes.

What makes a great bus party?
What you want to hear - Sex, drugs, rock and roll, and the occasional farm animal sex show. Reality - Some drinks, no randoms hanging out, and getting to be our naked idiot selves. Oh and the occasional farm animal sex show ;)

What's your favourite COB cover?
Can't say just yet. It may be that it has never been released. I don't want to get spanked. But of the currently known songs... Hell Is For Children.

Complete this sentence: "if I wasn't a sound tech I'd be ..."
Fucking homeless and half as gay.

Huge thanks to K-Man!

Promised Land of Heavy Metal

If you call yourself a Children Of Bodom fan then you must also, by default, be a fan of Finnish heavy metal ... In which case, you have to check out the "Promised Land of Heavy Metal" dvd.

A feature-length (90 mins) documentary, created and narrated by Kimmo Kuusniemi, a filmmaker, Sarcofagus guitarist and a forefather of Finnish Metal, "Promised Land of Heavy Metal" charts the history and philosophy behind the staggering rise and rise of heavy metal music in Finland, through interviews with musicians such as Marco Hietala, Ville Valo, Lauri Porra and Mr Lordi, as well as industry experts, journalists and broadcasters, and even the President of Finland! Why is metal a virtual religion for many? What are the links to satanism, and how has metal become mainstream in Finland? Plus, included in the many dvd extras, and of special interest to Children Of Bodom fans, an exclusive interview with Roope Latvala (a hugely important link in Finnish metal history in his own right), filmed just before COB took the stage at London's Kentish Town Forum last February.

An essential insight for all metal fans. Order your copy here: http://www.promisedlandofmetal.com/

Appearing in a country near you ...

Children Of Bodom played their final show of the summer festival season at Ilosaarirock, Joensuu, on 18th July, and according to sound tech K-Man, "the show went great, in fact the guys said it was the most fun as far as the summer gigs went". The band are currently on a well-earned break before embarking on a new round of touring on September 8th with an impressive list of countries that includes South America, Canada, North America, Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong and China, and concluding on October 24th at the B1 Maximum club in Moscow. Global domination starts here!

No rest for the guitar hero

Alexi Laiho found time between summer festival shows with Children Of Bodom to make a guest appearance on fellow Finnish band Saattue's new album. Alexi recorded his solo for the track "Vapahtaja" ("Saviour") on the doom metal band's upcoming release, "Vuoroveri" ("Tide of Blood") on 17th June. In their studio diary, the band thanked Alexi for agreeing to do something "slightly" different than usual. Helming the recording session was Alexi's co 'village idiot' from his punk side project Kylähullet, Tonmi Lillman. The album's release date is scheduled for 21st October.

Sinergy reloaded

Metal Mind Productions have announced the re-release of Sinergy's complete discography. "Beware the Heavens", "To Hell and Back" and "Suicide By My Side", all digitally remastered, will be re-issued in new digipack editions, each limited to 2000 copies. The release dates are scheduled for 24th August in Europe and 6th October in the USA. Each album will include bonus tracks as follows:

"Beware the Heavens" - "Beware the Heavens" (demo version)

"To Hell and Back" - "Venomous Vixens"; "The Warrior Princess"; "Razor Blade Salvation"

"Suicide By My Side" - "Rock You Like a Hurricane"; "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme"; "Invincible"

Skeletons out of the closet

Children Of Bodom have revealed the two new cover songs recorded at Janne Warman's Beyond Abilities studios earlier this summer for their upcoming covers compilation album, "Skeletons In The Closet". The tracks are "Hell Is For Children" (Pat Benatar) and "Antisocial" (Trust/Anthrax). In his summer blog, Henkka commented that "the songs turned out really good". The album is due for a worldwide release this fall. The full tracklists for the different regions are as follows:

Europe

01 "Lookin' Out My Back Door" (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
02 "Hell Is For Children" (Pat Benatar)*
03 "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" (Ramones)
04 "Mass Hypnosis" (Sepultura)
05 "Don´t Stop At The Top" (Scorpions)
06 "Silent Scream" (Slayer)
07 "She Is Beautiful" (Andrew W.K.)
08 "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (Kenny Rogers)
09 "Bed Of Nails" (Alice Cooper)
10 "Hellion" (W.A.S.P.)
11 "Aces High" (Iron Maiden)
12 "Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol)
13 "No Commands" (Stone)
14 "Antisocial" (Trust/Anthrax)*
15 "Talk Dirty To Me" (Poison)
16 "War Inside My Head" (Suicidal Tendencies)**
17 "Ooops!… I Did It Again" (Britney Spears)

USA

01 "Lookin' Out My Back Door" (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
02 "Hell Is For Children" (Pat Benatar)*
03 "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" (Ramones)
04 "Mass Hypnosis" (Sepultura)
05 "Don´t Stop At The Top" (Scorpions)
06 "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (Kenny Rogers)
07 "Hellion" (W.A.S.P.)
08 "Aces High" (Iron Maiden)
09 "Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol)
10 "No Commands" (Stone)
11 "Antisocial" (Trust/Anthrax)
12 "Talk Dirty To Me" (Poison)
13 "Ghost Riders In The Sky" (Stan Jones)
14 "War Inside My Head" (Suicidal Tendencies)**
15 "Ooops!… I Did It Again" (Britney Spears)

Japan

01 "Lookin' Out My Back Door" (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
02 "Hell Is For Children" (Pat Benatar)*
03 "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" (Ramones)
04 "Don´t Stop At The Top" (Scorpions)
05 "Silent Scream" (Slayer)
06 "She Is Beautiful" (Andrew W.K.)
07 "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (Kenny Rogers)
08 "Bed Of Nails" (Alice Cooper)
09 "Aces High" (Iron Maiden)
10 "Antisocial" (Trust/Anthrax)*
11 "Talk Dirty To Me" (Poison)
12 "Ghost Riders In The Sky" (Stan Jones)
13 "War Inside My Head" (Suicidal Tendencies)**
14 "Ooops!… I Did It Again" (Britney Spears)

*previously unreleased track recorded at Beyond Abilities studios, summer 2009
**previously unreleased track recorded at Petrax studios, fall 2007

Needled 24/7

Children Of Bodom's summer festival season continues, with the band turning in their expected crowd-pleasing performances. But even for the well-oiled machine that is the Hate Crew, not everything always goes to plan.

At Metalway in Spain a very late slot, coupled with the forces of nature, conspired to make things difficult: an extremely strong wind meant that just staying upright and not being blown offstage was a challenge throughout the band's set; at the Metaltown festival in Sweden, technical problems gave COB's sound tech, Kal (K-Man) Kaercher, plenty of pro-level headaches, and at Graspop last weekend glitches in Janne's keyboard rack caused more grief for the band's crew. But the show must go on, and it did: in K-Man's words, "I haven't seen a crowd that crazy in a long time". Check out Kal's blog at http://web.me.com/kmancobhc/Site/Blathering/Blathering.html for all the details.

Horns up for Ruisrock!

Henkka checks in from Metaltown

Henkka has posted the following blog, fresh from Children Of Bodom's appearance today at the Metaltown festival in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"The best festival experience of the summer! Easily!

So far we did some festivals, in Spain, Finland and Germany, but I have to admit that Sweden was amazing. Last headlining tour we did only one show in Sweden, which was weird, but now in Gothenburg, it feels that we should have done more.

What can I say..? Lot of people, very nice weather, lovely city and many many friends. So Gothenburg is treating us well today. And yesterday too.

That wraps up the whole experience we had in Göteborg this summer! Mycket bra!"

Next stop on the band's summer festival schedule is Graspop, Belgium on Sunday 28th June.

Scythes Of Bodom's blog opens

Hey all you faithful Scythes followers out there!

We launched Scythes Of Bodom back in 2002 with a mission - we wanted to share our fellow hardcore fans all the info we lunatics had got our hands on after this punk band from Espoo started to put out CDs and perform live shows of the quality that totally blew our minds. Just like all of you, we really wanted to get to the bottom of the whole phenomenom that these five dudes had created.

The success of Scythes Of Bodom came to us out of the blue. We never really imagined that so many of you would be just as nuts about to learn the smallest detail or piece of trivia from the band's history. It's been amazing to see that THOUSANDS of you share our passion for the COBHC and come to read Scythes Of Bodom every day.

This is the very reason we are opening this blog: we all have felt for a long time that we haven't been able to provide you with the quality news feed on COB you deserve, and that there's really no one keeping the fans up to date on what's latest with the band and in which media they appear in. We have had some issues with updating the site as often as we have wanted to, and this is where this blog - and the new blood we have in our team - come in very handy.

Expect nearly bi-daily updates on this blog and don't hesitate to take advantage of the comment feature, too!

See you in the pit!

Rock Hard Festival 2009 coverage

Children Of Bodom started their 2009's summer festival run in
Gelsenkirchen, Germany last weekend. Gelsenkirchen's neat Amphitheater is a really cool setting for the annual Rock Hard Festival, named after German's leading metal magazine and organized by Continental Concerts, who also book and offer management services for Children Of Bodom in Europe.





As we all know, COB had to drop off from their recent US tour with Lamb Of God due to Alexi's broken shoulder, rib and internal bleeding.

Rock Hard took place just a little over three weeks after Alexi had to give in during the band's NYC show and head back home to rest, after having played ten shows against doctor's recommendation in great pain from all the injuries he suffered after coming crashing down on his bunk in the band's tour bus. A representative of the festival announced the band on the stage telling everyone about Alexi's condition making the point clear that he is not 100%. However, if you hadn't seen Children Of Bodom live before, there was no way of telling that something was wrong and that his rib was still hurting while he was singing.

For those who were familiar with his usual stage antics, it was quite clear that he wasn't moving and jumping around as much as usual, but still playing with the accuracy he always does.




I was rather sceptical and thought that the band probably hadn't got the chance to rehearse any songs they haven't played in a while to add to their set due to Alexi's injury, but to my surprise they had really mixed up their whole setlist from their recent shows.

After the Big Lebowski intro the band introduced already on the Lamb Of God tour, they launched their set straight into Needled 24/7 which they haven't played in a long while.

It was closely followed up by Bodom Beach Terror, a song that has never been played in the first quarter of the set before. Other positive surprises included Smile Pretty For The Devil - a fantastic live song COB has been playing from time to time but been a little uncertain about due to mixed crowd reactions -, Are You Dead Yet?, yet another song they haven't played in two years, and most importantly Kissing The Shadows, a very welcome return for many fans who enjoy the lightning fast solo sections in the song.

Roope's new ENGL Amplification endorsement was also showing, as he played the show in front of a wall of 9 ENGL Amps.

Children Of Bodom's setlist @ Rock Hard Festival 2009

Intro: The Big Lebowski - The Fucking Short Version (YouTube)

(Photo: K-Man)

Needled 24/7 Bodom Beach Terror Smile Pretty For The Devil Living Dead Beat Are You Dead Yet? Banned From Heaven Hate Me! Kissing The Shadows Bodom After Midnight Blooddrunk Angels Don't Kill In Your Face --- Bed Of Razors Downfall

(Outro: Wild Side (Mötley Crüe)

The German Hate Crew at the Amphitheater seemed to be loving every minute of the show. Although the record of 2000 crowdsurfers over the fence from COB's Wacken 2008 appearance
wasn't broken, there was a lot of action going on and I even got to witness the first Wall of Death, totally improvised by the crowd and not called for by the band, I've seen at a Children Of Bodom show in the beginning of Blooddrunk!

The band seemed to be on a good mood and Alexi and Janne were trading off their trademark remarks throughout the set. Before Downfall, Janne started to play Van Halen's Jump and as Roope and Jaska joined the jam, Alexi told them to stop because "I'm sure they like that shit more than our own songs" to which Janne wittily replied "well, who fucking doesn't?".







All photos by A Lund
All in all, it was a relief to see that the band could deliver a solid show despite Alexi's condition and that they have taken the time to mix their setlist up which is something they haven't always been so good at. Be sure to catch COB this summer on one of their upcoming festival dates! Whether you're a new fan or an old school hardcore fan, rest assured - you're in a for a treat!