Alexi was pretty much single-handedly responsible for getting me into metal. I love this man's work. R.I.P.

I read so many yt comments in the last week, saying that Alexi made them start to play guitar. What a great legacy. Although I already played guitar when I was introduced to CoB, he really blew my mind and was a huge inspiration. I just couldn't grasp that it was humanly possible to play that stuff (was the first guitar shred I heard) and I don't know if I'd still play if it was not for him. I wanted to be able to do that, too, and that goal kept me going, which is a important aspect in learning an instrument, in my opinion. I'm sure that because of him the world gained some great guitarrists (not including me, but maybe I'll get there some day :) ) I especially like CoBs neoclassical inspired songs, like their self titled song Children of Bodom. It's so much fun to play, too. I had to ride the bus for about 45 min to school and the Mp3 players memory capacity back in the day weren't exactly huge (I think my first one had like 256mb :D) so it was pretty much packed with CoB songs in my case. I wonder how many hundreds of times I listened to the Hatebreeder album back then. I really grew up with CoB, so incredibly sad that he's gone. Edit: Regarding Alexis inspirations: He does a lot of whammy bar stuff and mentions Steve Vai as an inspiration for that. Also Yngwie Malsteen I think, which explaines the neoclassical figures he often used, especially in the first 2 albums. He also was in a Death cover band, I think. And he said that he also listens to just pop music, which is a rather bold statement, coming from a metal guy :D. They even covered Oops, I did it again, which is hilarious imo. So (80s)shred, death-metal and also pop roots, I think you can find all of that in one or another CoB song.

@raen19

3 жыл бұрын

Like you, I was already playing guitar when I heard COB for the first time. Hearing Alexi changed everything for me. Particualrly Hatebreeder. I've just had to relearn Hatebreeder, Downfall and Silent Night, Bodom Night, I'd forgotten how much fun those songs were to play! He was also heavily influenced by Stone, a thrash metal band from Finland that featured Roope Latvala (if you haven't heard them, check out the song Empty Corner - the vocals aren't great, but the guitar work is insane), plus a lot of '80's metal like Motley Crue, Skid Row, etc. And so much other stuff. He had a really wide range of influence, which I think is why he ended up sounding so unique. Sinergy is a much better representation of that influence though, not to mention Alexi working with one of his heroes (Roope).

The thing most people underestimate is, that alexi plays all of his guitar work with full distortion and full volume. Most guitarsists switch to the neck pickup for solos and/or put some effects on it because full distortion is not forgiving you any mistakes when playing lead and soli. Which you can hear when you see recordings of alexi live, you can hear every mistake that he makes...which makes it more impressive how often you cannot hear a mistake. It boggles my mind how alexi plays so clean with his setup

@aayushsagar6898

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly! This! 🤘🖤

@phm19880

3 жыл бұрын

I am a little drummerboy , but that was a valid point that u have here. I'm amazed also that how clean he can keep sounds of the insane solos etc..

Much respect to Alexi Laiho. Saddens me that I will never see them playing again. Rest in peace Wild Child.

Haven't heard this one in 13 years! Children of Bodom - Downfall is another great one!

Alexi Laiho was so talented man. He has what Chuck Schuldiner has. Great storytelling with riffs and solos.. That was a really bad year for rock metal community Sean Reinert, Sean Malone , Eddie Van Halen, Neil Peart , Riley Gale(He was so young too). All of them left good music behind them. Respect..

@aestusmaris

3 жыл бұрын

Riley Gale is the one that hurt most for me. Power Trip's potential was absolutely huge with only two awesome discs behind them and he was such a fantastic frontman. I wish I got to see them live.

@yunusemrekarabacak8539

3 жыл бұрын

@@aestusmaris Yes one of the best thrash metal bands after 2000. But they arent broke up as I know. They will release music I think. But Riley Gale was a special talent. I hope they find someone as great as him.

@aestusmaris

3 жыл бұрын

@@yunusemrekarabacak8539 I really hope they bounce back with a new singer, they deserve it. Their sound is too good, too necessary to let fade away.

@spaketticarbonada9651

3 жыл бұрын

Yunus, nice description. Alexi was truly an amazing composer. Like no other he used melodies to trigger emotions that I have never felt with other melodeath.

@yunusemrekarabacak8539

3 жыл бұрын

@@spaketticarbonada9651 I find Dark Tranquility very successful at this point. Espacially in The Gallery and The Mind's I.

Sixpounder, Angels Don't Kill, Trashed, Lost, and Strungout. You gotta do more. Shred In Peace Alexi

R.I.P. Alexi Laiho...🤘🏻😞 Children Of Bodom was the first band I've ever listened to so they introduced me to metal. He is also the singer, btw. Please react to Children Of Bodom - Downfall.🤘🏻 One of the special features of COB has always been the duels respectively duets between Alexi and their keyboard player.👌🏻

If youre still interested in this band- maybe try Downfall

@tmp1k

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! Came here to post the same 👌

@rishubhchakraborty4963

3 жыл бұрын

My fav too \m/

@Killerbee_McTitties

2 жыл бұрын

Or Children of Bodom from the same album, first bodom song I heard and still my favorite.

Awesome to see this. I was going to suggest in one of the recent videos you do a CoB reaction to honor Alexi. I wasn't the biggest CoB fan, but they were the band that came closest to taking melodic death metal mainstream, and Laiho was one of the few legit "guitar gods" of the late-90s/early-00s. His death was a real shock, and may inspire to sit down and learn a song of his, though much of it may be beyond my skills. RIP to one of the greats. For historical context, CoB were among the first wave of bands influenced by the OGs of melodeath: Dark Tranquility, At the Gates, and In Flames. The key albums from all of these bands hit around '95-'96. CoB debuted in '97 and probably hit their popularity peak around '03. Most of the metalcore bands started appearing a few years after CoB's debut, and CoB were certainly one of the huge influences on the movement. In fact, given their quasi-mainstream success they may have been a bigger influence than the original melodeath bands. Certainly Laiho's guitar work was a big influence on pretty much any guitarist playing metal who came of age around that time. I remember when they first started getting popular and how much people started praising him on the guitar boards I frequented at the time.

I've been listening to Children of bodom for 11 years. One of my favorite tracks by them. I was just listening to this earlier today. R.I.P to Alexi Laiho

Children of Bodom was a huge influence to my musical tastes for a lot of high school. I haven't listened to them in a long time but see Alexi pass made me go an revisit them a bit. They always have incredible melodic guitar and keyboard solos.

RIP Alexi. A huge influence on the metal community. You should check out some Dark Tranquility for some melodic metal.

@darktranquillitea939

3 жыл бұрын

Therein, Eyes Of The World, Forward Momentum, Feast Of Burden...

Thank you so much for doing this! Yep there's definitely a keyboard player there. He was definitely an inspiration, and to multiple genre's of music. I recommended this song because it's a good starting point for them - it's kinda the turning point for CoB in a way. Prior to this they played a much more neoclassical style of music, and after this it was definitely melodic death metal, where this song/album has elements of both. If you're ever keen to revisit them (and I know you have a large list to get through, so no pressure), Downfall is a great one to check out. It's one of their more neoclassical numbers, with guitar/keyboard harmonised solo's. Kissing The Shadows has some outrageous soloing too. As far as the metalcore thing - music is music, and if it has given someone something then it has done its job, regardless of the genre. There's value in nearly everything (I still don't get rap tbh). Again, thanks for doing this. I know you have a busy schedule, so I really appreciate you finding time to fit this in. RIP Alexi.

@punkjay4681

8 ай бұрын

Neoclassical? Like Deep Puple and Yngwie Malmsteen? What have you been listening to? Bodom was extreme metal from the start, though hard to put into a genre. Elements from thrash, death and black metal. Definitely neoclassical style of guitar technique used, but far away from the genre of music.

@raen19

8 ай бұрын

​@@punkjay4681never said they played neoclassical. I said there was more neoclassical in their style. And if you disagree with that, then perhaps you need to go back to Something Wild and Hatebreeder and pay more attention.

Please do more children of bodom! This was such an insightful video. I love to hear what people who actually know something about music and composing have to say about this band. I miss Alexi every single day ❤

Yes they have a keyboardist. I'm a drummer and my favourite part is the keys haha

At the end of day, still one of my all time favourite guitarists

Hate Crew Deathroll is my favorite CoB album, love it. Funnily enough it was also Alexi's favorite CoB album :)

Bodom is so much fun to listen to. I've loved Alexi's work. Bodom is what turned me on to death metal, and led me into a lot of what I listen to in the metal world today. And yes, there is a keyboardist and he's phenomenal. Other commenters mentioned checking out Downfall, and I agree. I mean, they have so many good songs it would be silly to try and list them all here. But one that stands out to me, that I would recommend to you personally due to how the song is written, would be "The Nail." Seriously, no reaction video necessary, just check it out. I think you'll enjoy it. All said, thanks for the video. RIP Alexi Laiho. Thanks for everything.

@JeremyBarbell

3 жыл бұрын

The Nail is a vastly underrated song. Especially the ending. It's so damn good.

One of the bands that really did heavily influenced metal-Core was At The Gates from Sweden they also really influenced a lot of industrial metal as well.

You mentioned City of Evil by Avenged Sevenfold. From an interview concerning the album: "With the guitars, our inspiration at that point was we wanna play better than Children of Bodom. That was, like, the band we were looking up to at that time." Bullet for my Valentine was supposed to be a warm-up for Bodom on their US tour 2006 but pulled out to join Rob Zombie.

CoB and In Flames are what got me into metal. I was never a fan of his voice, but his guitar work is just incredible. I was really surprised when you said "do they have a keyboardist" when clearly the keyboard is omnipresent at all times and duels with the guitar everywhere in the song, but I guess you were really focused on the guitars, so maybe you missed it. Like many said their first 3 albums will always be my favorites from them and you should check out Downfall, but still, the energy of this track is pretty amazing. Rip.

He sung as well. Nobody seems to remember. He did all this stuff live (often hammered). Rip master Laiho

This reminds me that we need more Wintersun here

@Juhasante

3 жыл бұрын

100% agreed 🤘

@Sp3077

3 жыл бұрын

I'm a Ensiferium fan...so Wintersun will definitely be on the next Playlist. All bands from Finland.

I saw them live back in 2006. The energy and stage presence of the whole band and Alexi was OUT OF THIS WORLD. He was born for metal. Rest in Peace legend!

Children of Bodom's keyboardist has an instrumental side project called Warmen. I would love to hear a reaction to any of the songs in their Salieri series. Thank you for this tribute.

Really enjoyed your assessment and overall impressions. Would love to hear your reaction for some of their even older stuff. For me, the thing that really gives COB their identity is their overall musicality being rooted in classical. A lot of very interesting melodic patterns can be enjoyed on the first 3 albums. A song I'd recommend for analysis: Touch Like an Angel of Death.

"Honestly, I don't remember" (the bass). Don't worry Brian no one ever notices the bass player. (Bass player goes and cries in the corner). 😓😣😭😭😭

@CriticalReactions

3 жыл бұрын

As a bass player I'll be crying in the corner with ya. I'm so glad that more and more engineers are giving the bass the emphasis they deserve these days. So many bassist have been pushed down into the mix making their contributions either invisible of forgettable, the former being what I think happened here.

@metal-adjacent

3 жыл бұрын

It is definitely lacking in the mix here. I think also the sound they've adopted has really bright hot sounding guitars and I believe the bass might just get lost as the low end fill. If I'm not mistaken I think they use distorted bass which sometimes gets lost with the guitars unless mixed very well or with a very unique tone.

Children of Bodom- Black widow. Alexi Laiho got his start playing Classical violin at 7 and I'd say that the guitar work in their song "Black Widow" has a great Paganini-Esque flare.

My favourite song and album by CoB. They were really good. Alexi were an amazing guitarist but the keyboardist was crushing it too. He always had the keyboard tilted against the audience to showcase the playing. Their first albums definitely was in the vein of the swedish melodic death metal scene at the time for me. I listened to CoB at the same time as In Flames, At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity! Also liked the early Bullet for my Valentine.

Alexi really was one of the best musicians in metal. The man really knew his way around a whammy bar too, lol. Knew exactly how to use it to add in a little flavor. Ya know, spice it up. There's this thing CoB do a lot, idk what it's called, but I think you gotta lightly smack the whammy to make the sound. Anyway lol, I think you're right about that Metalcore thing. I would not doubt that a ton of them are heavily influenced by late 90s/early 2000s Melodeath bands like CoB, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. And I think the reason the genre is so outcasted like a red-headed stepchild so to speak, is that they kinda feel like "the breakup song" of metal. Hell, even one of my favorite (and one of the only) Metalcore songs I listen to is called The End Of Heartache. Some of the lyrics: "I'll be waiting for the end of my broken heart", which about sums up half the genre lol. A lot of dudes look down on showing vulnerable feelings like that in heavy music lmao. The music itself is also kinda formulaic, too. It's usually a screamy, heavy verse that goes into a super melodic, catchy clean-sung chorus then you just repeat it. Really makes it feel like the most "commercial" of all the subgenres. That's just my take on it. Honestly, I'm not so harsh on the genre anymore, in comparison to a couple of years ago in high school. The ol' "fuck that fake metal" phase lol. All that being said... definitely still not fond of Deathcore though. And lastly, they did have a keyboard player. He's pretty prominent in this song and most other songs. It's just the melodies tend to be very lead guitar-like or in the background. I remember when I first started listening to this band, I couldn't tell which was doing which at some points. But yeah, his "orchestra hit" effect is as much as a key factor in CoB as Alexi himself was. You should definitely check out some more CoB, though. You have the pre-Hate Crew Deathroll era stuff which is a little closer to the traditional European Melodeath sound. Stuff like Lake Bodom, Bed Of Razors and Silent Night, Bodom Night. A little more keyboard heavy with more neoclassical guitar riffs. The one part you might not be into is that the vocals are a little more rough around the edges. They're more Black Metal sounding. Like more dry & raspy. Then you have the post-Hate Crew Deathroll stuff, which is closer to this song. Songs like Are You Dead Yet, Not My Funeral, This Road and I Worship Chaos all have that more modern metal sound. I think a good middle ground to check out would be Glass Houses or Hexed off of their last album (also called Hexed). It's their modern sound, but more in the style of their early stuff.

He was the best ,and will always be 🥺😍

I watched some recent videos with Alexis. His health decline was very apparent. He was very thin, almost skeletal, and appeared weak. Yet, he tried to produce music until the end. Poor guy. He was such an inspiration to me.

@jaybob9317

2 жыл бұрын

May be his faith could inspire people with addiction problems to seek help as much ad he inspire young guitarists. Alexi Laiho is a legend.

You are very much correct that Metalcore was heavily influenced by CoB( and other melodic death metal bands from Finland and Sweden during late 90s early 2000s). You should check out something from the album Slaughter of the soul (from 95) by a band called At the gates which had a huge influence on metalcore.

saw them live maybe 18 yrs ago and i never paid attention to them then- pretty solid

They do have a keyboard player, name is Janne :) him and Alexi's solo "battles" Were one of the best parts of Children of Bodom ☺☺

One of first metal band ive listened to paired with slipnkot which got me into more heavier music, rip!

Listen to kissing the shadows

COB was kinda like the Van Halen of 2000s Melodic Death Metal. Still very thrashy with some Helloween keys and influential in bringing shred guitar back to Metal after almost a decade of no guitar solos during the 90s.

ChOB was one of my first metal bands. RIP Alexi

Glad you checked out Bodom! If you check out anything else you should do Lake Bodom or anything off the album Are You Dead Yet?

Swedish-Finnish melodic death metal scene of the 90's really heavily influenced metalcore. At The Gates in particular is being cited as the source of every single metalcore riff in existence. And for an interesting fact about COB, they once made a Brittney Spears cover and it's quite funny.

@Malarkey1943

3 жыл бұрын

I swear at one point they're talking about a 6 pack of tequila.

@trve_ingvar

3 жыл бұрын

@@Malarkey1943 yeah, it's pretty much as if it's recorded while hanging out getting hammered, which I wouldn't rule out as being wrong actually

Wow now that's a good song!!!

I think you miss that he sing and play at same time and yes they using keyboard for solos and stuffm so this is pretty unique

@CriticalReactions

3 жыл бұрын

I wasn't sure which person was Alexi so I didn't want to misspeak. Everyone talks about him as the guitarist so I leaned into that. It's awesome that he did all of that guitar work while also handling those harsh vocals though.

@yolomacswaggers4355

3 жыл бұрын

@@CriticalReactions np react to follow the reaper live or the battle between him and Jenna wirman the keyboardplayer

I definitely agree they were influential on metalcore. InFlames, At The Gates, and Darkest Hour as well. I also kinda feel like Slipknot's Iowa album had a huge impact on the mid 00's deathcore scene...probably an unpopular opinion, but that just what I've percieved.

I'm not even a metal guy..more hard rock. But, hell yes, I'm a Children of Bodom guy. Totally dig Alexi Laiho. Rest easy, wildchild \m/

Calling a guy who was barely in his 20's in when the album came out a grandfather of a genre, puts a smile in my face. Thank you for reacting to CoB.

If you end up listening to more check out kissing the shadows

Captain beefheart - Trout Mask Replica ❤

i didn`t watch these reactions of CoB. Because it made me sad. and i didn`t want to be sad while listening to them. i really like them.. I heard them early on, but when i saw them att Gates of Metal in Hultsfred, Sweden 2005. Thats when i really heard them. they kicked our butts with there energy and performance on stage and sounded great doing so. A punch in the stomach that woke you up and made you engage in what was happening on stage. the line up that year was sick. Dimmu B, Masterplan with Jorn, evergrey, Dark tranq.. sabaton and more.. CoB stod out and they gave everything. It was the same in stockholm. favorit song from that night, Hate Crew Deathroll. It was not the music alone that made CoB great. They gave you all they had. If you want you can look att that video here on youtube. It says it all. this was an honest reaction and i liked it. And now i will watch them ,live in Stockholm. and yet again have my as# kicked by CoB /HC

Is it just me or does this remind anyone else of in flames??? definitely not a bad thing 🤟

Really interesting how metalcore was influenced by melodic death metal, which in turn was influenced by NWOBHM.

I still quite like metalcore and I find it weird that people hate on it or any music genre

Downfall by CoB would also be cool

You should really really react to the old gems such as Bodom After Midnight or Downfall. Children of Bodom at their prime. Rest in peace Alexi. He influenced a bunch of guitar players and bands. You are right with Avenged Sevenfold, Synyster Gates was influenced by Alexi.

Their first album was out in 1997 and was damn good and catchy already I started metal with bands like CoB and Amon Amarth, then I listen a looooot of Unearth first album, The Oncoming Storm that came out in 2003, and then in 2005 my milestone was Despised Icon with their Healing Process, since then I find the new bands mostly boring, it feels like nothing changed in 15 years.

Wildchild industrie! 🤟

That is power metal maybe harmonic power metal

Yo, check literally anything off of Follow the Reaper. That album is considered by many to be one of the best, if not the best, melodeath albums of all time. Also, to me, what made alexi's playing so good to me was his combination of chunky rhythms with good melodies. Not his soloing.

This songs ok check out Silent Night Bodom Night

Alexi was the best metal guitar player. R.I.P. Wildchild!

Trashed, Lost, and Strungout

This song is relatively weak. For proper Alexi Laiho mastery, check any song from any of Children of Bodom’s first three albums; “Something Wild”, “Hatebreeder”, and “Follow the Reaper”... absolute masterful mix of neo-classical, Baroque-based extreme metal.

@Celatra

3 жыл бұрын

While a departure from their neoclassical roots, to call this song weak is simply an insult towards what this song is. A great melodic thrash metal song.

@msb8792

3 жыл бұрын

@@Celatra I don’t see how it’s an insult. It’s an “okay” song, but it’s weak compared to older COB, and for the matter, it’s one of the weaker tracks on Hate Crew Deathroll album

@spaketticarbonada9651

3 жыл бұрын

I see where you're coming from. I actually love the HCDR album. Sure it's not on par with the first 3 but I can't remember how many times I've listened to the HCDR CD in my car back in the day. It was basically glued in there. Great driving music. And I too think Needled is one of the weaker songs on HCDR.

Amazing track man and what the fuck is this guitar and shit man..

>Keyboard effects through entire song "Do they have a keyboardist?" ....I fucking can't with this guy.

PUNK

I am a big cob fan but i despise this song

Did u just called COB metalcore? lmao.

@jthomashair

3 жыл бұрын

Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal definitely have some overlap. Much of Metalcore wouldn’t exist without bands like At the Gates and probably CoB too.

@Celatra

3 жыл бұрын

@@jthomashair i mean BMTH practically just based their entire first album off like 3 riffs from Slaughter To The Soul