Children of Bodom are a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo, Uusimaa. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of frontman Alexi Laiho, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, keyboardist Janne Wirman and guitarist Daniel Freyberg. The band released ten studio albums, three live albums, two EPs, two compilation albums, and one DVD.
The band's third studio album, Follow the Reaper (2000), was their first to receive a gold certification in Finland. Subsequent studio albums acquired the same status. Their next four albums each debuted at number one on the Finnish album charts, and have charted on the United States Billboard 200. They are one of Finland's best selling artists of all time with more than 250,000 records sold there alone.
In 2019, Children of Bodom held their last concert in Helsinki, named A Chapter Called Children of Bodom, before disbanding. Laiho and Freyberg carried on as Bodom After Midnight in 2020. Founding member and main songwriter Laiho died in December of that year.
In October 2025, the surviving members of Children of Bodom announced that the band would reunite to perform two tribute shows for Laiho in February 2026, with Samy Elbanna filling in for him on vocals and guitar. The band announced a permanent reunion on 10 March 2026, including plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Something Wild in 2027.
History
Formation and early years (1993–1996) Guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen formed Children of Bodom in 1993 as Inearthed. They had known each other since childhood and shared an interest in heavy metal, especially death metal. Bassist Samuli Miettinen completed the initial line-up of the band. Inearthed recorded its first demo, Implosion of Heaven, during August of the same year.
Miettinen was the band's main lyrical composer 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 contributions to Inearthed were the lyrics of the songs from their second demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission. This demo was the first time they worked with producer Anssi Kippo at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). On this demo, keyboards were incorporated into the band's songs for the first time. To achieve this, Laiho and Raatikainen played the keyboards separately and subsequently mixed the recorded track with the other instruments. Laiho, who had previously only composed the melodies of the songs, assumed the role of the band's lyricist.
At the time, Raatikainen played French horn in a local big band. During a rehearsal, he met Alexander Kuoppala, a trumpet player and guitarist. Kuoppala was invited to join Inearthed as a rhythm guitarist before the demo recording, but did not participate in the recording itself, as he was on vacation at the time. In early 1996, Henkka "Blacksmith" Seppälä, whom Laiho and Raatikainen knew from school, replaced Miettinen on bass as well as contributing backing vocals. The band recruited keyboardist Jani Pirisjoki.
With this line-up, Inearthed recorded their third demo, Shining. This demo did not impress record labels any more than the previous ones, 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 recorded an independent, self-funded album.
Laiho wanted to use keyboards more effectively, but Pirisjoki was not attending rehearsals. He was fired and replaced with a friend of Raatikainen's, jazz pianist Janne "Warman" Wirman.
To sign with Spinefarm Records, the band was required to create a new name due to the contract they signed with Shiver records under the name Inearthed. The band stumbled upon Lake Bodom in their local phone book. The band found that the lake had an interesting story due to the Lake Bodom murders. A long list of possible names involving the word Bodom was made, and they settled on Children of Bodom.
Something Wild and Hatebreeder (1996–2000)
Anssi Kippo and Children of Bodom produced, recorded and mixed Something Wild at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). To promote their band, they opened for Dimmu Borgir in 1997. Something Wild was released in late 1997 in Finland and in 1998 worldwide. In early 1998, for promotional purposes, the band recorded a music video for the song "Deadnight Warrior". The video was directed by Mika Lindberg and had a budget of €1000. It used of simple scenery, which consisted 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 Laiho was very critical of the music he had written, he noted that he likes Something Wild the least of all of his albums. When recording this album, Laiho tried to mimic the style of his idol Yngwie Malmsteen, which is why Something Wild is considered one of the most technical Children of Bodom albums. Despite this, he considered it to be their "most important" record, as it "put them on the map."
Children of Bodom's first European tour began in February 1998. They played with bands such as Hypocrisy (at such festivals as Under the Black Sun), The Kovenant and Agathodaimon. Pianist Erna Siikavirta replaced Wirman for the duration of the tour.
Months later, the band recorded two new songs at Astia-studios with producer Anssi Kippo, "Towards Dead End" and "Children of Bodom". 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 Wirman was not able to perform. Laiho's then-girlfriend Kimberly Goss (from Sinergy and formerly of Dimmu Borgir, Ancient and Therion) assumed the keyboards. By the end of the tour, Goss invited Laiho to join Sinergy, which at the time was in its early stages.
The second album, Hatebreeder, was recorded between the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999 by Anssi Kippo at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). It was originally titled Towards Dead End, but in the studio the band members 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 music video directed by Mika Lindberg. Hatebreeder topped the charts in many European countries. In July 1999, the success of "Downfall" and Hatebreeder allowed Children of Bodom to schedule three concerts in Japan with Sinergy and In Flames. During two of these concerts, the live album Tokyo Warhearts was recorded. In it, the band reproduced and at times improved on their songs. At their request, no overdubs were used on the recording of the concert.
Rise to popularity: Follow the Reaper and Hate Crew Deathroll (2000–2004)
For their next release, Children of Bodom used Peter Tägtgren's Abyss studio in Sweden instead of the Finnish Astia-studio from Anssi Kippo where they had recorded their previous releases, including the demos from Inearthed. The band wrote eight songs for the album. While in the studio, they included an extra track that was hastily composed and featured lyrics improvised by Laiho. That track would be named "Kissing the Shadows". The band named the album Follow the Reaper. Recording took place between August and September 2000. The album was released worldwide in late 2000. A music video for "Everytime I Die" was recorded by Finnish director Tuukka Temonen shortly after.
In February 2002, Children of Bodom began writing songs for their upcoming album, Hate Crew Deathroll. They returned to Astia-studio (Lappeenranta, Finland) with producer Anssi Kippo. The session ensued during the months of August and September. The album was released January 2003 in Finland. It remained on the top of the Finnish charts for three weeks and became the band's first gold album. All of the band's albums reached this status and Follow the Reaper reached platinum.
On 3 January 2003, the Finnish Metal Music Awards were held at Tavastia Club in Helsinki. Voting was open to metal fans and was presented through the various media outlets that were working with the event's organizers. Children of Bodom was awarded Finnish Band of the Year.
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 accompanied by the announcement that Kuoppala quit Children of Bodom for personal reasons in the middle of the tour without warning. In an interview, when Laiho was asked why Kuoppala left the band, he stated that "Well, I try to be careful about what I say about him because there is no bad blood between us. He told me that he just got sick of touring and the whole band/rock 'n roll lifestyle living in hotels and tour buses and stuff. For me it was really weird because he was always the one who was SO into it! He was a die hard rock 'n roller and suddenly he made a quick 180 turn in his whole life. This whole situation involves a new girlfriend." Laiho invited Griffin's guitarist Kai Nergaard to replace Kuoppala, but he did not accept. Laiho's bandmate from Sinergy, Roope Latvala (founding member of Stone, one of the bands that started the heavy metal movement in Finland) assumed the guitars as a session player, until a permanent solution was found. This formation was introduced in Moscow on 16 August.
Breakthrough with Are You Dead Yet? (2004–2007)
After finishing the world tour with Latvala – who assumed a permanent position in the band's line-up – Children of Bodom recorded and released the EP Trashed, Lost & Strungout and the single "In Your Face", which contained songs from their upcoming album and a parody cover of "Oops!... I Did It Again" by Britney Spears. In late 2005, the album Are You Dead Yet? was released, featuring a different style from the band's 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. 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, 16 in Sweden and 17 in Japan. The band's next release 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. In June, Children of Bodom was in front of 120,000 spectators, one of their biggest concerts, on the last concert of the Böhse Onkelz. The DVD of the concert, called Vaya Con Tioz, includes Children of Bodom's performance of "Everytime I Die".
The band performed at Wacken Open Air in August of 2006. Children of Bodom's live DVD Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout Live was released on 5 December 2006. It contains a recording of a live concert performed on 5 February 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden, with over 90 minutes of live footage. "Chaos Ridden Years" refers to a documentary featuring interviews with band members about the history of the band and footage of the band on tour. It contains every music video Children of Bodom had made, except for "Needled 24/7". Metal Hammer magazine voted Laiho the world's best guitarist of 2006.
In June 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 the US through June and July, and Europe through October and November.