Jaska, Janne and Henkka are leaving the band!!!!!

[mrs.bodOm]

Or perhaps he was actually at the show. Were you? Have you watched footage from it? See Jaska's good-bye speech on his own? Did you check the setlist? This wasn't a special show and a very poor send off for the final gig with this lineup. Janne did not want to be there from the bunch of videos I've seen, no enthusiasm and was in a bad mood the whole show. There was no second encore, no special requests, when the show ended everyone left the stage leaving Jaska on his own where he got very emotional. Compared to other band's final shows where they prepare something special and play for several hours with a big farewell speech this was a poor way to end.

It's sad to see Children of Bodom ending this way but there has been a lot of trouble in the Bodom camp over the years. Most of it won't become public, much like with Roope only a little is known publicly, on that note he was in town for the show as well as a bunch of other Finnish musicians for the final show. The lads taking the name and leaving was in the works for a long time.

Lol. I was there. I attended all shows on this tour. What I say here I base upon my own experience with the band. So FYI I don’t judge by seeing videos, but what they tell me and what I see with my own eyes. I can’t understand how you or your friend think they didn’t want to be on stage. Janne in a bad mood? You must be joking, but I guess you know better.

This show had classic CoB lights and car on stage, the setlist was longer than the rest of the tour and the encore was 4 songs. This wasn’t indeed something super special as many people would have wanted but it was what it was. The final show for these three original members. I told Jaska after the show that it was nice of him to make this speech cause something had to be done, Alexi only briefly thanked those three and that was it. He said he did it on behalf of them as well.

I don’t think many of you understand how hard it is for them to quit doing something they’ve done and loved for so long. Yeah there were talks about them leaving already a while ago but it actually didn’t happen the way those three wanted it to happen.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Apparently they played 18 songs on the last gig, which is more than ever. Thing is, it was the "CRY setlist", with 11 songs being the same as back then. Rarities were Shovel Knockout and Halo of Blood. Maybe they should've played In the Shadows for the last song as 2nd encore. Reading the setlist I feel it could've been peppered with T,L&S or Knuckleduster. Well everyone has their ideas, look ahead instead.

 

[rj rl]

Here's an interesting bit of trivia I've just realized.

As many of you may know, Finnish prog-thrash band Stone used to be a major inspiration for young Alexi. To the point where he invited their lead guitarist, who goes by the name Roope Latvala, to join Children of Bodom after Alexander had left.
You can clearly hear the musical influence on the early albums as well. Compare, for example, the opening riff in Wrath Within to the one in No Commands (which COB also covered around that time).

But whatever, what I realized is that there is another thing Alexi perhaps did borrow: Stone used to have a song referencing the band's name in its title on every album.

On the first album it was the awesome opener Get Stoned.
On the second it was Back to The Stone Age.
On the third it was Stone Cold Soul.
And on the fourth album there was none. And it came to be their last record, after which the band split up.

Hexed was the first album without the usual Bodom reference in its songs' titles. Isn't all this poetic?

ps: Stone is fucking awesome and apparently they reunited some time ago, no new album yet though. Stone rules

 

[rj rl]

RRF? What's that? No such album in my worldview
Good call, I guess that now makes it half as poetic as before.

 

[NewHewkas]

But Alexi said, he just forgot it

 

[PussyfootMS]

RRF has LoBodomy.

 

[CharIie]

Dude, BloodDrunk had LoBodomy. Not RRF.

 

[rj rl]

ITT: people have no idea what songs were on RRF because it sucks. Even when their nicknames are song titles from RRF jk

 

[CharIie]

Have to strongly desagree on that one rj rl. Ugly is one of Bodom's most solid song ever, and songs like Roundtrip to Hell and Back & Not My Funeral are actually really good.
However, songs like Was It Worth It? are the ones that almost drew me away from Bodom.

 

[tragician]

Before one of the shows on the tour I met a guy who said his favorite COB song was Was it worth it, and AYDY and RRF were THE BEST COB in his opinion. I could imagine the forum's reaction lmao. But to each their own. There's some good stuff on RRF and it's a good album for getting wasted.

 

[<Arcane>]

RRF was my favorite album for years, so...

 

[CharIie]

Yeah, it's definitely not a weak album. It's just got less gems than the others.

 

[<Arcane>]

See, for me it has more than Bloodrunk, AYDY or IWC.

Also BD isn't bad at all. It just got a terrible guitar tone which makes it nearly impossible for me to listen to more than one song. Which is very sad because some riffs on that album are great.

 

[COB-666]

OFF
Instagram stories from Kelli

 

[<Arcane>]

OFF
Instagram stories from Kelli

Fanboism at its best.

 

[ESA1996]

"Dear fans,

2019 is coming to an end, so it’s a good time to take a look back before turning our gaze toward a new year. For us, 2019 was eventful, and a big part of that was playing our last COB gig in December.

We have received a lot of questions about what we’re going to do next and why we quit. Since this decision has sparked up a conversation and false rumors, we want to talk about why we ended up making it, one more time.

There is no argument behind the band’s name trademark or its use. We have a joint agreement. Alexi Laiho sold his share of the company and this meant that the three of us became owners of the COB brand. Although plans for our future are open, what is certain is that we will never do anything to disrespect this brand and the long career we’ve built together.

Also, we definitely want to set the record straight with the misconception that we quit because we have families or wanted to retire. Music is our profession and our lives, and all our families know that. They are proud of what we do, and they completely have our back. It should also go without saying that we as individuals are not retiring.

Success brings with it the responsibility to take a stand on decisions unrelated to music as well. These decisions were very difficult for us. We were five band members, each with their own roles, but we couldn’t find a shared viewpoint during these last few years.

The reason for writing this is not to point fingers but to clear things up. We are and always will be proud of what COB achieved together.

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2020!

Henkka, Janne and Jaska"

Taken from COB's Facebook page.

 

[Arystar]

I have trouble on how to read into this post..
Will the band CoB now quit? And members follow other routes?
Or willthere be future shows with other band members?
Because as it is read here it seems this is a band split like any other lol....

 

[tragician]

I don't really understand either. 3/5 members leave and band name changes. But it's still kinda COB bc they'll be playing COB songs and continuing with the theme. Ok??? All their new post fuckin did was raise questions when it was "meant to end misconceptions". Lmao just tell us what happened, this just makes it look like Alexi just said some bullshit to get people to shut up when the news first came out and really there was something different.

Also if the guys leaving the band are also the same ones who have a family, you can't really blame the fans for thinking you're "retiring". To stop questions you answer them.
Janne said he's be commenting after the tour, where's that interview?

Really what they could have just done is: Release a statement explaining the situation properly As The Whole Band instead of just a very MCR kind of a sorry paragraph and then have us all wait and make up an explanation based on shit we know. If it is true whst they said that this was a long time coming and this was inevitably coming soon, why didn't they tell us? Why make it look like a huge fight took place? This statement is basically just saying stuff to end the silence but not actually saying anything.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

What I read between the lines is they weren't satisfied with the musical direction Alexi took with the newer albums and were not willing to just follow the shown path, and this probably caused ego-issues, unsettled chemistry and disappointment. I think that's written by Henkka, with shared opinions of the two others. Just what I make out of it.

 

[<Arcane>]

It's really hard to understand anything. As you all pointed already out - this statement says and explains nothing. It just opens a door to way more speculations.

Why can't they just say what happend? We have to read between the lines instead. I guess I have to wait for another Kelly Live-video where both are drunk again. Maybe Alexi will clear things up then.

My theory is that it hasn't anything to do with the music itself, but with Alexis permanent abstinence from FIN. I wonder what Daniel has to say . I think he suffers a bit under the splitup because he's the only one who's still posting Bodom pics on Instagram.