
By Carl Begai
The best thing about my BraveWords career are the people I meet along the way. Children Of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho is one of them.
Sure, as a music journalist getting music weeks and months in advance is great, getting passes and guest-listed for shows is a gift, but without the artists doing all the work and putting up with my media hack chatter none of that would be a reality. Over the past 25 years many of the interview victims that I’ve had have become drinking buddies, acquaintances or friends; I consider myself blessed.
The news that Alexi has passed away is heartbreaking. He was only 41 years-old. Far too young to be taken from this world, a world that he kicked in the ass with the gifts he’d been given. And if one really stops to think about it, Alexi Laiho was a game-changer in the metal world.
When I look back on how often we crossed paths over the past 20+ years – always with fond memories in the aftermath – I’m very grateful. We didn’t know each other well on a personal level, but whenever Alexi and I spoke or met up it was as if we’d been hanging out the day before. That sort of rapport with anyone is priceless.
I first interviewed Alexi in 1997 for Children Of Bodom’s debut EP, Something Wild. At the time they were just another band on Nuclear Blast’s ever-growing and increasingly diverse roster. Everything about the EP piqued my curiosity and BraveWords boss Tim Henderson agreed we should do a small piece on the band. Nobody could have predicted how Children Of Bodom would explode within the next couple years, or just how much of an influence Alexi would become to metal guitarists, and ultimately metal bands, the world over.
Continue reading ALEXI LAIHO – The Road Less Travelled