In a deeply candid interview with Chris Akin Presents, Janne Wirman, longtime keyboardist for Finnish melodic death metal legends Children of Bodom, opened up about the tragic final years of frontman Alexi Laiho, who passed away in December 2020 at the age of 41.
The conversation offered a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the emotional toll of watching a bandmate and close friend succumb to addiction, and it arrives just as the band prepares to release their official biography this August via Rocket 88.
“In 2016, everything just went to hell with Alexi,” said Wirman. “And the remaining timing in the band is you know that you’re watching your friend commit a slow suicide. You know, with his addictions, that he shouldn’t drink, he shouldn’t do this and this, and he keeps doing it daily, and you’re, like, ‘Fuck! This is not gonna end well.’ So that is not fun.”
Janne was honest about the sense of helplessness that defined the final years. “Yes and no,” he said when asked if there were things he wished he had done differently.
“He didn’t want help; he refused our help. So, a grown man who’s decided kind of to die by his addiction, you can’t help a person like that. They’ve made up their mind. And I don’t think he wanted to die, but that’s what he was doing. So it’s crazy. And you try to help. And also he said it to me, and he made it perfectly clear that he’s not gonna get sober ever again, and he’s just gonna whatever.
“So, yes and no. There’s, of course, things that could have been handled differently, but in the end, if a grown man decides to die by their addictions, that’s what they’re gonna do. If they’re gonna refuse all help and they’ve fucking made up their mind, that’s what’s gonna happen.”
He later added: “Well, yeah, this is now the very end in 2016 to 2019. When he said that to me, I started making other plans and removing myself from the band. And it got so confusing. There’s a book coming out about Bodom that explains everything, by the way. But I announced that I’m gonna leave the band [around] 2018… So it got so fucking confusing with Alexi. And then there were better times. And it was just a fucking mess.”
Now, for the first time, fans will get the full story of Children of Bodom through the band’s own words. The upcoming official book, due out in August via London-based publisher Rocket 88, is an oral history pieced together from new interviews and personal recollections from Wirman, bassist Henkka Seppälä, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, early guitarist Alexander Kuoppala, and others close to the band.
Titled simply as the official Children of Bodom book, the biography chronicles the band’s more than 30-year journey – from their formation in the early ’90s with their “lost brother” Alexi at the helm, through the highs of international success and the eventual unraveling of the band. Finnish author and longtime friend of the band Timo Isoaho conducted the interviews and compiled the narrative.
The book will be available in two deluxe formats, including a Signature Edition signed by Janne, Henkka, Jaska, and Kuoppala. Fans who preorder now at childrenofbodombook.com have the opportunity to have their name printed in the book, making it a true collector’s piece.
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