https://www.facebook.com/AlexiLaihoOffi ... 6196108082

Jesus Christ.
I haven't listened to Bodom regularly in a while but I guess it's time for a binge. I really don't know what to say other than this is both shocking and sad.
RIP.

Sad indeed. One of the best known Finnish metal musicians and a very talented guy. RIP.

Rest in peace

This is unexpected and heartbreaking.

Side note: titling RIP instead of R.I.P hopefully won't confuse someone else into thinking/hoping the thread is rip Alexi Laiho (whatever that may mean). Just goes to show how unreal this is.

I don't really get hit by 'celeb deaths', but I'm devastated by this one. I feel like crying. His music has been a big part of my life for over 20 years, and those first four Bodom albums in particular will always rank among my all time favourites (and Follow the Reaper as possibly my favourite metal album).

I can't say I'm too surprised though, as he's looked terrible for a long time and people have speculated about his health / possible drug abuse for a few years. Even so, RIP Alexi. Thanks for the great music and memories.

Just saw the statement from Bodom After Midnight on Facebook and I'm completely shocked by this. CoB were never my favorite band but I've been listening to them sporadically since I got into metal in the first place. I got a bad feeling when CoB imploded but then again he just finished recording the debut from Bodom After Midnight. I wonder what happened.

Really sad to hear it, CoB were my entry to extreme metal. Finland lost a legend

Very sad to hear that Laiho has died. I was a big fan of Children of Bodom in the mid to late 2000s and I even saw them on the tour that they did with Cannibal Corpse in 2009. I was always impressed with the speed and skill in Laiho’s playing and also how catchy many of his songs were. Hatebreeder and Follow The Reaper were my favourite CoB albums and are still great fun to listen to. I hope he is at peace now. RIP.

Any cause of death revealed? It's no secret he's been battling alcoholism but 41 is very young.

It's been a long time since i shed a tear, but this hits me hard.
When i was a clumsy starting guitarist i looked upon his face ripping solos and worked hard as fuck to step up my game and reach that level trough the years. Downfall, Silent Night Bodom Night, Kissing the Shadows.. were and still are solos that i look upon when i think of how much bad ass lead guitars can be and i massacred my fingers for hours and hours to try to emulate his crazy playing

Even if i've never been the biggest CoB fan Alexi's lead playing has always been in my head and never left it. My tastes changed heavily, but he still was an inspiration, a childhood guitar hero and i feel really sad about this completely unexpected news

Rest in Peace

R.I.P. and the last jau jau's. Still probably know Hatebreeder front to back, though I haven't listened it in years. What a guitarist he was.

Something Wild was a big part of my early metal journey. Time to give it a spin once again. RIP

That's simply shocking. Gone much too soon. I had heard about health issues, but had no idea it was this bad. Rest in peace Alexi

Children of Bodom were certainly a big part of my early metal listening years. Completely surprised by this.

R.I.P.

Shocked and sad. I was never a big COB fan, but they were just starting to make a name for themselves when I got into metal more than 20 years ago. I still have vivid memories of driving home from college on vacation/long weekends and blasting Follow the Reaper. I wonder how he died? I saw them on their last US tour, and he looked awful - basically like a skeleton.

Can't say I'm surprised, the last time I saw him live he was scary thin, but it's still shocking and devastating. CoB is one of the multiple bands that got me into metal, this one specifically into bands with harsh singing, and even though I'm not very good with band members' names, he's one I've always recognized. Damn. RIP man.

Absolutely devastated to hear this. I unfortunately only got to see him and meet him once with CoB on the Halo of Blood tour back in 2013. The band played super tight and he completely ripped. Great set.

Hatebreeder and Follow the Reaper were some of my favorite albums when I was getting into extreme metal and it's been a while since I spun those; guess today's the day to dust them off.

It was sad to see CoB disband but I was very much looking forward to the new Bodom After Midnight album. Wonder how far they got with recording that one and if we'll hear anything from it.

R.I.P. Alexi

Back in 2003 was when I got serious about metal. My friend sent me their song “Children of Decadence,” and it had a strong impact on me. One of the first “extreme” metal songs that set everything in motion. I’ll always love their first few releases. RIP. Way too young.

As far as I know, they've definitely got something recorded, as they put up a lot of posts about it on social media, including references to mixing and mastering. I could be wrong, but I think the idea was to do an EP with 2-3 songs and then a full length later in the year, so it might be that there's only a handful of tracks finished.

I just saw this a minute ago, being a lifelong Children of Bodom fan I am in total shock. Devastating news to hear.
He will be greatly missed. :rip:

Unfuckingreal. He was one of the few real legends of the modern era of extreme metal in my opinion. On the 36th anniversary of Phil Lynott's death of all days.

RIP.

Like most people here, they were one of the earlier bands I got into. My friend's family was close to the band, and when he found out I also listened to metal, he recommended them to me. Great guitarist, part of a great band. I was really interested to see how Bodom After Midnight would go as well. I have no idea how my friend's going to take the news when it gets to him. RIP

Sad news, it seemed like he'd turned around a few of his bad habits - there must have been some serious damage there to die at 41. Poor unhappy soul !

What a tragedy. CoB were one of the first bands I dove into back in 2000 when I was trying to find more underground metal. The first four LPs (But especially Follow The Reaper) will always hold a special place for me.

Fuuuuckk. This is so messed up. RIP. One of the greatest musician who had a huge impact on me.

Hopefully they'll release the Bodom After Midnight album.

Wow. I know people'd been saying he looked ill on stage, and the whole band breakup came very mysteriously. Shame to hear - RIP. His old albums were some of the first metal I heard, like many here.

Read on FB that they recorded three songs and a video and that it will be released posthumously.

Too young, god damn. I'll certainly unearth my Follow the Reaper CD tonight for a spin.

RIP

Shocking news indeed.

Pretty sad, he was so young! I remember just starting to play guitar and going on ultimate guitar back in the day and seeing him in a picture and they were doing a give away of one his flying V guitars, I think that's how I came across them for the first time and checking out the Follow The Reaper album, my personal favorite now. Hopefully the band can continue on, but damn would it be hard to find someone to fill his shoes.



Children of Decadence was my first song as well, love that song. I even used it in a Halo montage I made back then lol

Oh my God I cannot believe it... I never listened to COB's discography; just a few songs here and there. Their style never really got to me but I have always watched people pay huge respect to Alexi, Latvala and all the other musicians for their technique, precision and songwriting.

Alexi's guitar playing is the thing that struck me even on those rare occasions of stumbling upon their material. Catchy, melodic and with tons of variety. He was an amazing musician, guitar player, vocalist and performer.


RIP Alexi...

This was a hard thing to wake up and see as breaking news on my phone.

Children of Bodom were the band that broke me into extreme metal having listened to nothing but Metallica and 90's alternative. I still have very clear, vivid memories, of my discovery of the band.

It was 2003 and I was in an FYE sampling music. I remember scanning Hate Crew Death Roll, the cover looked cool, and the moment that Needled 24/7 kicked in I knew I found the music I had been looking for my whole life. It was just before Christmas and conveniently dad had me doing the shopping that year since he didn't want to do it, I was 18. I bought gifts for my brothers and he told me not to forget myself, to keep up the Santa charade for them. I got Hate Crew and Follow the Reaper.

I still remember driving to our grandmothers house for Christmas and jamming these two albums in his van back then. Hatebreeder was a fun find at an FYE in Appleton, Wisconsin. Never thought I'd have found any good music there. Children of Bodom were also my first concert, back in 2005 I believe. This just hits me hard. His work is what got me into extreme metal and became one of the reasons I have such a large collection of CDs. RIP.

I don't usually get too affected by deaths of people I never knew personally, but this one is hitting me hard. One of the first metal bands I ever became obsessed with and my middle school aged self thought Alexi was a god. Haven't listened to CoB a ton lately, but will be spinning Follow the Reaper today for sure.

Damn. The guy was barely older than me. I just started checking out COB maybe 2 years ago despite having known about them for ages. Glad I got to enjoy the band while he was still alive. Rest in peace.

This is shocking I remember seeing him back in Los Angeles in 2004 with Iced Earth it was my first metal concert i ever went to and man it was something that's sad so young.

I'm a bit at lost for words. COB w/ Trivium and Amon Amarth back in '05 was the first metal show I ever went to. That was right around the time his band was at its peak in terms of popularity.

RIP to a legend. That shits extremely sad to hear. He died way too young.

Damn, that blows. Was never a huge COB fan but they were fun when I saw them open for Lamb Of God years ago. Alexi was a solid player too!

Rest In Power

Yep. My mom drove me and my friend to that show in Seattle and I will never forget it.

I think it's hard to overstate just how important Bodom were. From talking with friends, and reading these comments, it feels like they were a gateway band for a huge percentage of metalheads. I was sorta familiar with melodeath and power metal when I discovered them around 2003, but Bodom exposed a whole new world. For many of us, they were one of the first bands that showed metal can be extreme, virtuosic, catchy, and cheesy as hell, all at the same time. An absolute gamechanger.

He was too young to go. Children of Bodom played such a massive role in shaping up my love for metal music when I was a teenager. They are the very first metal band I saw live, at age 15. It was in 2005 for their tour for Are You Dead Yet?. Laiho was such an inspiring figure for me. His skills as guitarist and song-writer are what I'll remember most fondly. He brought to life some of the best music of the finnish melodic death metal scene, namely with Hatebreeder and Follow the Reaper, which are still classic records of the entire melodeath genre.

May he rest in peace.

Mine too. I forgot who the other band on that your was, Amon Amarth. The House of blues in Chicago was so slow letting people in that night we missed Amon Amarth s set

RIP far too young. Both times I saw them he was in rough shape obviously and this was years ago. But fuck did he rip live.