A short video with Alexi telling about his most inspirational albums.
http://www.terrorizer.com/2013/06/05/children-of-bodom-top-3-albums-video/
http://www.terrorizer.com/2013/06/05/children-of-bodom-top-3-albums-video/
COB Interviews
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- Start date
UnknownSoldier
Member
The only interesting bit was when Alexi described the album "cold".
I think a lot of interviewers are treating the metal circle wrong. This isn't MTV stuff, we don't need the good-mood chit chat with no content. Fans want the artists to get a chance to describe their material in expressive, serious ways.
I think a lot of interviewers are treating the metal circle wrong. This isn't MTV stuff, we don't need the good-mood chit chat with no content. Fans want the artists to get a chance to describe their material in expressive, serious ways.
sleeper666
MetalMutha
Alexi interview at Sauna Open Air
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVrmHkVXwh4&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVrmHkVXwh4&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
UnknownSoldier
Member
sleeper666
MetalMutha
sleeper666
MetalMutha
http://metalassault.com/Interviews/...ssist-talks-new-album-recent-india-show-more/
Children Of Bodom Bassist Talks New Album, Recent India Show & More
Posted on June 15
By Andrew Bansal
Finnish melodic death metal band Children Of Bodom have released their eighth studio album Halo Of Blood, which came out on June 11th via Nuclear Blast Records. Longtime fans of the band have been much underwhelmed by the previous two albums Relentless Reckless Forever and Blooddrunk, but would be delighted with how this new one sounds, a throwback to Bodoms earlier days. Recently, I caught up with bassist Henkka Blacksmith Seppälä to discuss the album and lots of other things including the upcoming Mayhem Festival and their recent India show. Read the conversation below, and pick up the new album from a physical or digital outlet of your choice.
I was listening to the new album Halo Of Blood, and to me it sounds a lot like the early Bodom albums. I love that sound, and it seems like its coming back with this new album. Would you agree thats the case?
Actually, no (laughs). But its hard for me to describe the music. Weve always done things the same way. I have heard it from many people that this one sounds like the early days of Bodom, which is perfectly fine for me. Its a nice thing to hear. But if I would have to be the first one to describe the album, I wouldnt use the same words. Im really happy though that people find it to be like that.
Even the cover artwork has the kind of feel that fits the music very well. Do you think its a good representation of the sound?
Yeah, we composed most of the stuff during the winter and we also recorded the whole album in the middle of the darkest, coldest winter (laughs). There was lots of snow this winter in Finland too. So, that had an impact on the sound and atmosphere of the album. We agreed to design the cover much before we decided to do the music, so in reality it was already there and we knew that it would have a winter scene, so may be subconsciously that got into the music as well.
I think the recording engineer you used for this album has also worked with you for the first few albums. What was his contribution, and did that have any impact on the sound?
The first time we really used him was for the Are You Dead Yet album and then also for Blooddrunk, and now we came back to him for the new album. But hes been mixing our albums since day 1, so we know his style and sound very well. The more we worked with him, the easier it became. This was the third time just the two of us, me and him, recorded while I did my parts. Its really easy and convenient. As a recording guy he doesnt put a lot of input into the music but I trust his ear very much. I just do my best until whenever hes satisfied with it.
Youve also worked with Peter Tägtgren, who produced the vocals and keyboards on this album. I have great respect for him for whatever he does. What was it like working with him?
We worked with him for Follow The Reaper, so weve known him from a longtime ago and weve also toured with him. So we know him in many, many ways. He is a good friend with Alexi, and somehow he has this really natural feeling when he works with Peter. So its always a good choice for us to know that Alexi is working with Peter, because when he does his vocals, nobody else is around. I wasnt there when Peter was in the studio, as Alexi wanted to do the vocals all by himself, aside from Peter. From what I heard, the result sounds good! Peter himself is a vocalist himself, so its really important to have that kind of guy to produce the vocals in my opinion. When it comes to keyboards, I dont know how much producing he was doing this time. Janne handled most of it by himself.
Thats interesting, man. So you mentioned that all the recording and most of the composing was done in the winter time, but did the process actually start before the winter?
We already started composing in the summer time, but usually in our case we start very slowly and then the pace picks up. So I would say most of it was done in very dark autumn or early winter. Winter was quite early, and quite snowy and heavy this year as compared to last year.
Coming back to the sound on the album, you said its hard for you to describe it, but while writing, does everything come naturally to you guys? Some bands have a deliberate plan. Is that the case with you?
Its always very natural. We never plan, we never even talk about the music (laughs). We just come together at the rehearsal place and then the first riff comes. We write the songs from that. Theres never any direction to what were trying to do. Its always very natural.
Thats awesome. The album comes out in June and after that youll be doing the Mayhem Fest in America. Thats pretty much Americas biggest mainstream metal festival going around. Youve done a lot of successful headline and support tours in the States, but this must be a big step for you guys to get that kind of exposure.
Yeah, I guess as a metal festival it is quite mainstream. I dont know if there is any other metal thing going on in the States when it comes to festival tours. Weve been kind of always looking forward to play those big festival tours in the States. Either the timing or the money wasnt somehow making it possible, but timing-wise and business-wise, this time it was doable so we decided to get on it, even though were going to miss most of the summer here in Europe. But we still think its the right time to do a big festival tour in the States. Were really looking forward to it and they have a lot of bands weve toured with before, so its going to be fun.
Yeah, its interesting because usually European bands stick to the summer festival season which is so prevalent in Europe. Youre missing out on it this year then!
Yeah, of course, well miss out on it this time which is a shame. The festivals are always fun here in Europe and also as a European band its definitely good to be here. But this time we chose to be in the States. Well, we do have a chance to do almost all the June festivals here in Europe, so I guess well be able to do both things.
In October of last year, you guys did a show in India. I heard a lot of interesting things about that, good and bad. What was that experience like for you overall?
It was just one show, and we spent only three days in India. It was kind of like a mainstream festival. I didnt really know any of the other bands that were playing there. So when we showed up at the place, we realized that there is no roof over the stage. It was the main stage too, and it was already raining. I think it rained the whole day, which is not the case in India often, specially at that time of the year. But then we were like, What can we do? Our crew was saying that its quite dangerous to play with electric instruments when its raining, and that we cannot play if theres no roof and if its going to continue raining. But then we knew that theres 5000 Indian metalheads who had been waiting there the whole day for us to play. It was a really bad scenario, but then they found these picnic tents. They built one tent for each member of the band on stage. I dont think it looked good in the lights but everybody was under a tent and we played the show. So it was really interesting but we managed to play anyway, even though it was probably not the best looking show we ever had (laughs). It was still better than having to cancel it.
Thats funny! It must have been dangerous though, even with the tents. Did you feel scared or anything?
Well, the rain was not too heavy anymore. It was just sprinkling, and we also trusted our crew when they said it was fine to play. So I guess we were fine, not scared (laughs).
It must have been different also in the sense that bands normally dont travel to a country that far away for just one show. The tour usually consists of at least a few shows. So, was that the longest trip youve ever done for a one-off show?
I think so! Ten years ago we also played a one-off show in Mexico, but yeah, this India show was probably the longest distance weve travelled for in at least ten years (laughs).
- See more at: http://metalassault.com/Interviews/...-recent-india-show-more/#sthash.OdQON4Vl.dpuf
Children Of Bodom Bassist Talks New Album, Recent India Show & More
Posted on June 15
By Andrew Bansal
Finnish melodic death metal band Children Of Bodom have released their eighth studio album Halo Of Blood, which came out on June 11th via Nuclear Blast Records. Longtime fans of the band have been much underwhelmed by the previous two albums Relentless Reckless Forever and Blooddrunk, but would be delighted with how this new one sounds, a throwback to Bodoms earlier days. Recently, I caught up with bassist Henkka Blacksmith Seppälä to discuss the album and lots of other things including the upcoming Mayhem Festival and their recent India show. Read the conversation below, and pick up the new album from a physical or digital outlet of your choice.
I was listening to the new album Halo Of Blood, and to me it sounds a lot like the early Bodom albums. I love that sound, and it seems like its coming back with this new album. Would you agree thats the case?
Actually, no (laughs). But its hard for me to describe the music. Weve always done things the same way. I have heard it from many people that this one sounds like the early days of Bodom, which is perfectly fine for me. Its a nice thing to hear. But if I would have to be the first one to describe the album, I wouldnt use the same words. Im really happy though that people find it to be like that.
Even the cover artwork has the kind of feel that fits the music very well. Do you think its a good representation of the sound?
Yeah, we composed most of the stuff during the winter and we also recorded the whole album in the middle of the darkest, coldest winter (laughs). There was lots of snow this winter in Finland too. So, that had an impact on the sound and atmosphere of the album. We agreed to design the cover much before we decided to do the music, so in reality it was already there and we knew that it would have a winter scene, so may be subconsciously that got into the music as well.
I think the recording engineer you used for this album has also worked with you for the first few albums. What was his contribution, and did that have any impact on the sound?
The first time we really used him was for the Are You Dead Yet album and then also for Blooddrunk, and now we came back to him for the new album. But hes been mixing our albums since day 1, so we know his style and sound very well. The more we worked with him, the easier it became. This was the third time just the two of us, me and him, recorded while I did my parts. Its really easy and convenient. As a recording guy he doesnt put a lot of input into the music but I trust his ear very much. I just do my best until whenever hes satisfied with it.
Youve also worked with Peter Tägtgren, who produced the vocals and keyboards on this album. I have great respect for him for whatever he does. What was it like working with him?
We worked with him for Follow The Reaper, so weve known him from a longtime ago and weve also toured with him. So we know him in many, many ways. He is a good friend with Alexi, and somehow he has this really natural feeling when he works with Peter. So its always a good choice for us to know that Alexi is working with Peter, because when he does his vocals, nobody else is around. I wasnt there when Peter was in the studio, as Alexi wanted to do the vocals all by himself, aside from Peter. From what I heard, the result sounds good! Peter himself is a vocalist himself, so its really important to have that kind of guy to produce the vocals in my opinion. When it comes to keyboards, I dont know how much producing he was doing this time. Janne handled most of it by himself.
Thats interesting, man. So you mentioned that all the recording and most of the composing was done in the winter time, but did the process actually start before the winter?
We already started composing in the summer time, but usually in our case we start very slowly and then the pace picks up. So I would say most of it was done in very dark autumn or early winter. Winter was quite early, and quite snowy and heavy this year as compared to last year.
Coming back to the sound on the album, you said its hard for you to describe it, but while writing, does everything come naturally to you guys? Some bands have a deliberate plan. Is that the case with you?
Its always very natural. We never plan, we never even talk about the music (laughs). We just come together at the rehearsal place and then the first riff comes. We write the songs from that. Theres never any direction to what were trying to do. Its always very natural.
Thats awesome. The album comes out in June and after that youll be doing the Mayhem Fest in America. Thats pretty much Americas biggest mainstream metal festival going around. Youve done a lot of successful headline and support tours in the States, but this must be a big step for you guys to get that kind of exposure.
Yeah, I guess as a metal festival it is quite mainstream. I dont know if there is any other metal thing going on in the States when it comes to festival tours. Weve been kind of always looking forward to play those big festival tours in the States. Either the timing or the money wasnt somehow making it possible, but timing-wise and business-wise, this time it was doable so we decided to get on it, even though were going to miss most of the summer here in Europe. But we still think its the right time to do a big festival tour in the States. Were really looking forward to it and they have a lot of bands weve toured with before, so its going to be fun.
Yeah, its interesting because usually European bands stick to the summer festival season which is so prevalent in Europe. Youre missing out on it this year then!
Yeah, of course, well miss out on it this time which is a shame. The festivals are always fun here in Europe and also as a European band its definitely good to be here. But this time we chose to be in the States. Well, we do have a chance to do almost all the June festivals here in Europe, so I guess well be able to do both things.
In October of last year, you guys did a show in India. I heard a lot of interesting things about that, good and bad. What was that experience like for you overall?
It was just one show, and we spent only three days in India. It was kind of like a mainstream festival. I didnt really know any of the other bands that were playing there. So when we showed up at the place, we realized that there is no roof over the stage. It was the main stage too, and it was already raining. I think it rained the whole day, which is not the case in India often, specially at that time of the year. But then we were like, What can we do? Our crew was saying that its quite dangerous to play with electric instruments when its raining, and that we cannot play if theres no roof and if its going to continue raining. But then we knew that theres 5000 Indian metalheads who had been waiting there the whole day for us to play. It was a really bad scenario, but then they found these picnic tents. They built one tent for each member of the band on stage. I dont think it looked good in the lights but everybody was under a tent and we played the show. So it was really interesting but we managed to play anyway, even though it was probably not the best looking show we ever had (laughs). It was still better than having to cancel it.
Thats funny! It must have been dangerous though, even with the tents. Did you feel scared or anything?
Well, the rain was not too heavy anymore. It was just sprinkling, and we also trusted our crew when they said it was fine to play. So I guess we were fine, not scared (laughs).
It must have been different also in the sense that bands normally dont travel to a country that far away for just one show. The tour usually consists of at least a few shows. So, was that the longest trip youve ever done for a one-off show?
I think so! Ten years ago we also played a one-off show in Mexico, but yeah, this India show was probably the longest distance weve travelled for in at least ten years (laughs).
- See more at: http://metalassault.com/Interviews/...-recent-india-show-more/#sthash.OdQON4Vl.dpuf
Vaneessjjee
and the story ends.
Interview with Henkka in French. 
http://www.musicwaves.fr/frmarticle.aspx?ID=725&url_ref=Interview_Children_Of_Bodom_(11_Avril_13)
http://www.musicwaves.fr/frmarticle.aspx?ID=725&url_ref=Interview_Children_Of_Bodom_(11_Avril_13)
==>Mask Of Sanity<==
Member
UnknownSoldier
Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2u_KVDOt6IE
Interview from Sweden
http://ylex.yle.fi/uutiset/popuutis...ssa-jengi-on-enemman-sekaisin-kuin-ulkomailla
This one is in Finnish, from Provinssirock.
Interview from Sweden
http://ylex.yle.fi/uutiset/popuutis...ssa-jengi-on-enemman-sekaisin-kuin-ulkomailla
This one is in Finnish, from Provinssirock.
sleeper666
MetalMutha
Interview with Alexi
"During our interview, Laiho compares Halo of Blood to past Bodom records, describes the bands shift from a neoclassical focus into a more contemporary direction, ponders fan expectations and reveals how Laiho himself was the inspiration for the self-deprecating monster track Waste of Skin."
http://loudwire.com/children-of-bod...f-blood-waste-of-skin-more/?trackback=twitter
"During our interview, Laiho compares Halo of Blood to past Bodom records, describes the bands shift from a neoclassical focus into a more contemporary direction, ponders fan expectations and reveals how Laiho himself was the inspiration for the self-deprecating monster track Waste of Skin."
http://loudwire.com/children-of-bod...f-blood-waste-of-skin-more/?trackback=twitter
sleeper666
MetalMutha
http://www.vantaansanomat.fi/artikkeli/243478-alexi-laiho-erittain-hienoa-olla-taas-back
Interview with Alexi (in Finnish).
Interview with Alexi (in Finnish).
sleeper666
MetalMutha
Alexi and Henkka ENORME TV interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1jCHsN2kO2o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1jCHsN2kO2o
Interview with Henkka (or Henkke as it reads on the title )
http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=9688
)http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=9688
Alexi always supports some lame Finnish act out of generosity, cos they somehow got in touch with him and their guitarist is a Laiho wannabe... When the truth is it's fucking disappointing there's not much real creativity coming up... Waiting for new great melodic metal bands... So many bands out there, who have put out multiple records, and have some impressive stuff somewhere in the mix but are generally so weak they can't be taken serious. Reality is so few people are blessed with creative minds.
