Children of Bodom

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Is Bodom proud of them?

Children of Bodom is a Finnish metal band from Espoo, formed in 1993 under the name of IneartheD. Their breakthrough was the album Follow the Reaper, which was the band's first album to receive a Gold certification in Finland. Since then, all six of the band's studio albums have reached the same status. In Finland, Children of Bodom has released three consecutive albums that debuted at number one on Finnish album charts, and has also seen chart positions on the United States Billboard 200.

The band is also known for its rather vague genre, which has caused much heated debate, but could best be described as a mix of death metal, elements of black metal in their early work, some groove metal elements, and (even though many will deny it) a bit of power metal.

Current lineup:

• Alexi Laiho - vocals, guitar
• Roope Latvala, guitar
• Janne Wirman, keyboards
• Henkka Seppälä, bass
• Jaska Raatikainen, drums

Discography:

• Something Wild, 1997
• Hatebreeder, 1999
• Follow the Reaper, 2000
• Hate Crew Deathroll, 2003
• Are You Dead Yet?, 2005
• Blooddrunk, 2008
• Skeletons in the Closet, 2009, a cover album
• Relentless Reckless Forever, 2011

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Children of Bodom provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Good Name for a Rock Band - Their name was inspired by the Lake Bodom murders.
• Cover Version - A whole cover album, Skeletons in the Closet. They also covered "Oops I Did It Again" at an earlier date; the song was also included on the album.
• Genre Busting
• Ho Yay - The bandmembers of Children Of Bodom are very affectionate with each other, especially Alexi Laiho and Janne Wirmen, who go on record as saying their constant snuggling and kissing on stage during solos is because they "get so intense by the medium of heavy metal..." It is not clear why they also often make out offstage. Alexi claims it's a "musical/personal relationship kind of deal."
• Indecipherable Lyrics - The band doesn't publish their lyrics, and Alexi is famous for singing whatever he feels like live. The result: a fandom constantly trying to figure out what the hell they might be singing in each song.
• Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness Generally 8, with a few songs that get up to 9. This is quite high for a Power Metal band, and yet a bit low for a Death Metal band.
• Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly - Their style can be summed up as "Neo-Classical Progressive Blackened Melodic Death/Thrash Power Metal"... or something. Generally it's easiest to refer to them as "extreme power metal" (Note: Not to confuse them with Dragon Force (video game), who call themselves this, but have more Speed Metal than Extreme Metal in their sound), which is what people do. It's not a good idea to mention the black metal influence among devout metalheads, of course.
  • Alexi Laiho has stated that he views the band as simply "Extreme Metal", finding the other sub-genres too restrictive.
• Nietzsche Wannabe - Skewered in "Cry Of The Nihilist" and, to an extent, "Pussyfoot Ms. Suicide".
• Dude Looks Like a Lady - Alexi at times. The fact that his screaming is really high for death metal doesn't help, either. Plus, Alexi isn't a very masculine name. However, if you watch his interviews, in which of course he speaks normally, it's unmistakable that he's a man.