Hell, Metal Archives has a long tradition of arguing over just what the fuck genre Children Of Bodom play, between fans and detractors alike. And it's fucking sad that that's gone so I think some of us taking another look since there's really not another Alexi Laiho out there.

Now of course, looking back from 2021, fans can cherry-pick through the discography and say there were still solid tracks and a few solid albums after the classic era, but for fans who loved the earlier records, it just wasn't enough.

I really need to give Bloodrunk and Relentless more attention. I've been a Bodom fan since Hatebreeder, but I'll admit, even I started losing interest during those mid-career albums. They just didn't have that flourish that the first few did. The thing is, I never considered them "bad", just forgettable. I think they got more shit than they deserved during that time.

Hell, Metal Archives has a long tradition of arguing over just what the fuck genre Children Of Bodom play, between fans and detractors alike. And it's fucking sad that that's gone so I think some of us taking another look since there's really not another Alexi Laiho out there.

...and then Halo of Blood blew me away. I recall that it leaked before release, and I was sitting on the bus with it on my iPod in stunned silence - it was like they'd recaptured their old school spirit (as an aside, Alexi actually said once that he didn't understand why people loved this album so much, so seems he wasn't too keen on it).

I never understood the vocal minority on this site that fixates on a band's 1st, 2nd, and at most 3rd albums, and everything after that isn't good enough for them. And that just doesn't go just for COB, it's pretty much how discussions go about every band. Personally I don't listen to an album relative to another. An album in itself is either good or not. Of course one will compare it to the bands previous work, but the comparison in itself doesn't increase or decrease the quality of an album.

I never understood the vocal minority on this site that fixates on a band's 1st, 2nd, and at most 3rd albums, and everything after that isn't good enough for them. And that just doesn't go just for COB, it's pretty much how discussions go about every band. Personally I don't listen to an album relative to another. An album in itself is either good or not. Of course one will compare it to the bands previous work, but the comparison in itself doesn't increase or decrease the quality of an album.

In the case of COB, Blooddrunk coincides with Alexi's wrist injury which seriously affected his playing and thus his composition. Not sure when the shoulder injury happened, but that also must have had an impact. I too have been listening more to Blooddrunk and RRF. They're not bad albums. They have plenty good songs on there. The productions is excellent and so is the sound. Both in a way give the fans what they've been asking for...more keyboards. The track order on both could have been better and it probably affects how one perceives the albums.

Thanks for your permission to like Blooddrunk

Ironically, every single time I've seen this smiley used on this board it was following a post that contributed jack fucking shit to the discussion.

Say what you will but 'Banned from Heaven' is one of the band's best songs ever. The song carries such emotion in its leads - I cannot imagine a fan of the band—whatever the era of preference—not liking it!

Alexi Laiho's giant surprise revealed after his death: The truth about "wedding photos" revealed - Alexi never divorced from his 1st wife

Story:
Guitarist Alexi Laiho was married to American Kimberly Goss until his death

CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist Alexi Laiho was not officially married to Australian Kelli Wright-Laiho , although she has appeared in public in the Finnish and international media as well as on social media.

The news of the continuation of the marriage, which took place 19 years ago until the death of Laiho, is surprising, as the guitarist has been in the public eye in recent years together with the Australian Kelli Wright-Laiho. Wright-Laiho has made it clear, among other things, through her social media updates, that she has been married to Alexi Laiho since 2017.

THE FINNISH Marriage Act says:

"Before the marriage, it must be ascertained that there are no obstacles to the marriage."

An obstacle to marriage is defined as, among other things, a previous, valid union.

“ No one is allowed to marry if his or her previous marriage is still valid. A person whose registered partnership is valid is also not allowed to enter into marriage. "

Thus, under Finnish law, Laiho could not marry Kelli Wright, as Laiho and Goss have not officially divorced.

The wedding photos published by Kelli Wright-Laiho on Instagram in December 2017 are therefore not images of an official marriage from the point of view of Finnish law.

Alexi Laiho has no subsequent divorce applications. The marriage was thus in force when Laiho died at the end of December.

Laiho's death was reported two weeks ago. The guitarist had long suffered from health problems.

we ASKED lawyer, deputy judge Hilkka Salmenkylä at a general level, how to deal with situations like this. According to Salmenkylä, under Finnish law, the first wife is a widow and the sole heir, if the couple has not been officially sentenced to divorce.

- If a first-degree divorce has been set in motion, it is essential whether or not some sort of division has been made at that stage. If a division has then been made, it has not lapsed, even if the divorce has lapsed. In that situation, the couple is considered to have a status comparable to the marriage condition, Salmenkylä says.

Salmenkylä emphasizes that the marriage condition does not remove the right to inherit.

- In principle, the marriage contract only affects where the inheritance tax is paid. The widow inherits if the deceased has no children or a will.

- First, a partition is made to see what the widow inherits. Let's add the funds of each and divide by two. Half of it is widowed under matrimonial law and half is widowed and pays inheritance tax.

ACCORDING TO PUBLIC tax information, Alexi Laiho earned well in the last years of her life with her music. In the past decade, his taxable income peaked in 2013, when the Bodom bowler earned an annual income of more than € 200,000. In the most recent completed taxation for 2019, Laiho's total earnings were EUR 89,683.

So it seems that Kimberly Goss as Laiho's first wife, and not Laiho's current/latest wife, is legally entitled to his legacy under the Finnish law and Kimberly is the sole heir-at-law to Alexi.

( Cannot help it, but somehow this whole deal reminds me of this song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV0PzZxGzbM )

Not quite sure what you mean by his "legacy." if you mean Children of Bodom related things, he sold off all of his ownership to his former bandmates before his death. So in my view that makes them entited to his legacy, not his first wife.

For me, Children of Bodom, especially Something Wild and Hatebreeder was something like "Power metal with harsh vocals and black metal influences" or "Power death metal/melodic death metal" and it was hard to put some strict genre definitions on that type of music. It was fresh, something totally anew and thinking how many Bodom copycats sprung up in those times it is also a testament how innovative band they were back in the day. I think that type of genre and music was quite uncharted territory (think of In Flames - Lunar Strains album for example) where the sound was not as chiseled and there were lots of folkish melodies, neoclassical melodies etc. But then again, it was just a fleeting moment in time. Similarily In Flames developed to something quite different and I simply cannot like their new material - at all.

Kim Goss has disclosed the cause of death, which will be a surprise to no one - "alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue. Furthermore, he had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system."

Full statement: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMBAd6qJT_S ... e=ig_embed

It has taken every bit of strength inside of me to try and stay classy, respectful and remain the lone adult in the room. Alexi would be horrified to see the circus and mockery that this Australian person has created out of his death. I am only human and there is only so much trauma, abuse and pure fucking evil that I can withstand and endure. I will not continue to allow her to disgrace his memory by manipulating his fans into donating money to fake GoFundMe campaigns or to have the world think they were a perfect, happy couple. Her 'grieving widow act' ends today.
She is nothing more than an attention starved leech who successfully preyed upon a man during the most vulnerable point in his life. A time when his girlfriend, dearest friends and closest allies were trying desperately to get him some much needed help. Help that he wasn’t willing to receive. This Australian person swooped in and became his biggest enabler of bad habits, highlighting through her Instagram account their 'glamorous, party hard rock n’ roll lifestyle.'
Anyone reading this who has ever had experience with addiction themselves or knows someone who has a substance abuse problem will understand how addictive personalities will gravitate toward people who enable that behavior. People who will not say no to them. Often times you’ll see this happen to celebrities / rock stars because everyone wants a piece of them. Unfortunately, there exists an element of depraved sub-humans who have no conscience or morals. They realize the only way they can get close is by enabling the addiction of that celebrity, consequences be damned. We’ve all seen this story play out before with other rock stars, famous comedians, actors, athletes, etc. Time to put down those rose-colored glasses and see the truth.
There were many wonderful people Alexi's his life right until his very last breath. People who loved him and truly tried their very best to help him. She was not one of them. He told me how she was pressuring him almost daily to divorce me and that he would keep her at bay by telling her that I refused to sign the divorce papers. Of course, now the truth has been revealed that in Finland the law states that you can divorce your spouse WITHOUT the signature of the other person. He could have divorced me at any time in the last decade+, without my consent or approval. The fact that he didn’t speaks volumes. As much as I care about Alexi, his unwillingness to be honest with her has created an unnecessary shitstorm of stress and chaos in many people’s lives. We all loved him, but he sadly had his demons.
This woman in Australia is desperate because she knows her plot failed. She spread false lies and accusations about me online, resulting in multiple threats to my inbox from fans that chose to believe her. Her last ditch effort at attention was to post pictures of the funeral that was held by his sister last week, with the Aussie named as the widow. I don’t care about that, but it’s the repulsive deception that sickens me to my very core. Let’s call this what it REALLY is. It was her way to do damage control for that disgusting GoFundMe campaign her friend set up to pay for Alexi's supposed 'funeral expenses.'

We all had a right to say goodbye to him and that opportunity was taken from us. I hope one day his sister will allow me to show her all the proof in my phone, from Alexi's own words regarding the truth about the Australian woman. A woman who made him think and feel that he was fat, weak and worthless. His words, not mine.

Read More: Alexi Laiho's Ex-Wife: 'Illegal' Funeral Held + Fans 'Duped' | https://loudwire.com/alexi-laiho-ex-wif ... m=referral

Full respect to Alexi and everything he accomplished, but man, he must have really loved getting trashed to eventually die from it.

"svengali partner who eggs on a self-destructive famous person's worst traits" is a tired (and often misogynistic) trope,