Last month, metal mourned as news broke that Children Of Bodom founder Alexi Laiho had died at the age of 41. He was known as an electrifying musician -the proud ‘Wildchild’ who could light up a fretboard. But he was also a gentle soul and a devoted friend

WORDS: DANNII LEIVERS

JOBY SESSIONS

Alexi Laiho was the kind of performer you didn’t forget in a hurry. On October 31, 1997, the frontman and his band, a then-unknown Children Of Bodom, were set to support Norwegian black metallers Dimmu Borgir in Helsinki. The show was a huge deal for Bodom. Dimmu were a much bigger name, having just released their third album, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, while the venue, the Lepakko, was legendary in rock circles. They needed to make an impression.

“We could hear the opening band playing from backstage,” remembers Dimmu Borgir guitarist, Silenoz. “We were like, ‘Holy shit, what is this?’ It sounded like Yngwie Malmsteen on speed. We ran out and watched the spectacle and stood there with our jaws open…”

“There was this fucking beast on the guitar,” adds Dimmu’s thenkeyboardist Kim Goss, who would go on to form power metal band Sinergy with Alexi in 1997, and marry him in 2002. “I was looking at our guitar player like, ‘I don’t know, man, you’ve got some competition…”

On January 4, 2021, when the news broke that Alexi had passed away, an outpouring of emotion ensued from the metal world. When we asked for contributions to a piece that would celebrate Alexi and his immeasurable impact on metal, we received more tributes and memories than we could hope to print in full. They all painted a picture of a man who was deeply loved and admired, and whose friendship and silly sense of humour touched everyone in his life.

“We had a secret language between us,” says Kim. “We went to Estonia together in 1998 and on the entire ferry ride there we spoke the entire dialogue of the first Back To The Future movie verbatim, not just word for word, but sound effects.”

“My favourite memory is probably the time we got these ridiculous Ali G-style tracksuits custom airbrushed for the 70,000 Tons Of Metal cruise to prank the karaoke night,” adds ex-GWAR member and costume designer, Kim Dylla. “Mine said ‘Ghostface Dylla’ on the back, and his said ‘Eazy-A, Original Gangsta 358’ – the country code for Finland.”

Those who knew him describe him as a softly spoken, gentle soul with a reckless, spontaneous side, the ‘Wildchild’ who out-partied everyone around him.

“His art was brutal and aggressive, but that was just one side of that furious, big-hearted tender guy,” says Reckless Love frontman Olli Herman, who played with Alexi in glam rock tribute act The Local Band. “He was like the big brother I never had.”