Alexi passed away

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Remembering the good old times. Karaoke at 70.000 Tons of Metal in 2012:

This brings back really good memories, I remember my friend convinced me to go on the 2012 70k metal cruise with him. At that time it was only the 2nd year of the festival and they still just had a shady website and not much press info. The concept of a metal festival cruise you had to book so far in advance without bands being announced seemed wild but we did it anyways not even knowing the bands that would be on it. I remember Bodom being announced maybe 1 month prior to the sail date and how excited I was. What a blast that was, so many good memories. One of the nights I hung out with Roope for like 5 hours and we had a grand ol' time. We were pounding mojitos and being idiots and talking about guitars and music lol

Alexi wasn't as social as Roope on the cruise, but I did get to have a beer with him way late one night at like 4am and we talked for a bit. I remember I said something to him like "I'm sorry if I'm being weird and awkward, I've been a big fan of yours for a long time and it's super cool to talk to you in person" in which he responded something along the lines of "I totally get it, we all have our guitar idols. If I tried to have a conversation with Steve Vai I'd be shitting my pants" lol
 

The Scence from this finnish TV Show, but i only know he doesnt take mobile payment :D

The main character was talking about how it's weird that money is just a digital number and people have lost all sense in using it. Then he sees Alexi and asks if Alexi takes mobile payment.
Alexi says: "Haha yeah no. This is cash only!"
And the man asks him: "You don't happen to have a third hand so you can give me back some change?"
Alexi doesn't respond, just keeps playing.

Sad thing is this aired in finland on the day when Alexi's death was reported about and while he is featured in the trailer, his role is so small it wasn't mentioned in the description. So many people just watched it and got a surprise Alexi jamming on tv! Must have been one hell of a
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Sometimes I dream about showing legacy musicians what they inspired. I really wish Randy could have heard Alexi on that cover. As a guitarist, its clear to me that Alexi was great for so many reasons... but one of which was attention to detail. He really worked hard to make every note clean on recordings... and it's always in a way that reminds me of a classically trained virtuoso in that the notes are sequenced with what in my perception is.... planning ahead. As opposed to say... Bill Evans - the great jazz pianist, or Jerry Garcia... these guys embraced pure improvisation. Alexi was precise like a fucking scalpel.

And I agree with the description - "The Last True Rock Star."

I really hope something else bubbles up that has the kind of magnitude that Alexi had. Of course the entire Bodom Crew is credited as well for bringing the sound to reality. But we are here now to remember the chief.
 
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I think that show in Saint-Petersburg he mentions was filmed and here it is:

:kickass::kickass::kickass::kickass:

Ah, yes. When they first played Downfall, still known as Forevermore. Technically not the best show, but I am always mesmerized by early Bodom. The energy of youth, the drive to get their music out to a bigger crowd and the occasional black metal vibes.
There are so many gems on youtube, or things I forgot. Like, remember when Janne used a keytar on stage?
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Funnily enough, I only remember older stuff. All the cool stuff, interviews, concerts, the stuff with Roope, COB Tv, guitar clinics etc. all happened earlier.

What has stuck in my mind as a memory of the last few years is:

Roope kicking out
Bodom breakup
Alexi very sick
Alexi looking almost dead
Album release too late
 
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Soundi Magazine shared an article from the beginning of Alexi's career, June 1998. Alexi lists his favorite albums and talks about how the band's doing. Translation:
https://cobtranslations.livejournal.com/7137.html
one more thing I remembered. Aleksi says "we got a lot of good bands and potential here. For example Cryhavoc can become a really big thing like Sentenced, -Just like we can too in our own thing"
This Cryhavoc band didn't really amount to anything in the end, but they had this song:


Maybe some of you guys will remember that there used to be an mp3 called 'Children Of Bodom - Repent' going around back then, I even had a tab of it. It was rumored to be an early unreleased Bodom song or something, although I don't think it sounds anything alike. The reason for the confusion was probably this split album.
 
All the emotional posts from famous musicians have been really nice to read.



These are some of his lesser known guest appearances:






I thank you for posting this, I have been playing Lycanthrope over and over the last few days, surprised I never heard of it! You can definitely tell Alexi wrote many of the riffs.
 
The following post is from the BAM Facebook group, written by an older lady under a picture from Alexi at the 2019 hexed NA tour, where he looked really thin. I had tears in my eyes after reading this. I felt like I had to share it here.

I did the meet n greet in NYC, 4/2019,he was not his usual self. when It was my turn to chat, and hand him a few gifts and a card.. he remembered me as always from other meet n greets and shows and he signed my cds and his autobiography and battle jacket. the someone In the crowd yells out a out his weight and how he should eat something. he just looked at me with those sad blue eyes , and I put my arm around him, and said " oh sweetie, we all worry because we love you, as a mother I'm worried. you didn't have to finish the tour." he looked at me and said" but I have to, its my job. you always cared about me, thank you for caring"
I couldn't do a big embrace because I was afraid I'd hurt him, and also, that he just may have fallen apart mentally, which would not be good before a performance. then he reached out and touched my arm, and said, " thank you for always truely caring about me, I'll be OK " we blew each other a kiss, and with that i left the line and had to pull myself together, thinking this may be the last time.
 
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