At least they’re not touring Canada during the winter.

Any cross-Canadian trek is a challenge for bands, as Canada’s vast landscape and long distances between cities make even the die-hard tour dog wonder when the drive will be done. But, despite those challenges, CHILDREN OF BODOM has once again embraced Canada, and why not? The Finnish flash from Espoo has undeniably had a banner year in 2011. The group’s return to form record, Relentless Reckless Forever, was unanimously praised, and the band’s tours have been successful by any standard of measurement. After getting blooddrunk in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg, Children Of Bodom takes its hatebreeding to Montreal, Toronto and Halifax later this month, the collective finishing its pan-Canadian trek with some of North America’s most fastidious fans. Children Of Bodom even has a French-speaker in its midst in bass player Henkka Seppala, adding a further Canadian dimension to the band’s latest sojourn in the great white north (more on that French point in a minute).

“This Canadian tour is going well,” says Seppala. “There have been lots of Canadian dates, and they’ve gone well. Tonight we’re in Saskatoon. We’ve had a couple of smaller shows in Edmonton and Winnipeg, but it’s been fun. Things are going well, and the impression of this tour has been very nice. The weather has also been very nice, because it’s summer. We’ve never been here in summer before. No snow this time (laughs).”

Another area that hasn’t received snowfall, metaphorically at least, is the reception to Relentless Reckless Forever. For the first time in a long while, Children Of Bodom finds itself surrounded by seemingly unending praise for a new record.

“These good reviews are amazing to us actually, because usually you don’t get good reviews for a new album,” Seppala explains. “Usually when you have a new album out, you hear mostly the negative reviews. But with this one, we’re hearing mostly positive ones. Which feels really strange for us (laughs). We’re used to getting the bad ones. And I think that’s very normal for bands that have several albums out. You’re always compared to your old stuff and no one is happy. We’ve been surprised how this album has been getting positive reviews.”

The fact Relentless Reckless Forever marks a departure from the BLACK LABEL SOCIETY-isms of Are You Dead Yet? and Blooddrunk and sees a return to the old-school leanings of Hatebreeder and Hatecrew Deathroll surely has pleased fans and critics clamouring for a return to the classic era. It’s a sentiment Seppala agrees with.

“I agree there are old-style melodic elements on this album. It must be why there’s been positive feedback. There are elements that are similar to the old albums, so maybe that’s one of the reasons. But it was very natural. We never choose or plan when we write the songs, they just come out. And we realise, ‘Woah, this sound like the melodic Bodom.’ It’s very natural.”

Not that Relentless Reckless Forever’s nod to the classics represents Children Of Bodom’s swansong. Not in the least.

“To me, the goal in this band is to just keep on doing music as we are doing now and to enjoy it quite thoroughly,” says Seppala. “We never really set up any formal goals, but we want to keeping enjoying writing our music. We also want to enjoy the touring life that we do now. Every night it’s fun to get on stage to play these songs for the fans. Keeping this up for a long time would be our biggest goal and biggest achievement. The whole point is just being able to put our aggressive energy in the music. If at some point we would lose that, we wouldn’t be able to feel satisfaction with the records. It’s pretty much the different side of us, and it’s the only key to keep on doing this. We are quite happy guys and normal fellows, so it’s a way to put the bad feelings out. Metal music kicks your ass. It gives you a very aggressive feeling, but in a good way. That’s what it’s about. If our songs don’t have that, then they’re not our songs. We have to start to do another song, because it has to have that feeling. We’re lucky we’ve always had it.”

Big achievements have been plenty in the Bodom camp, starting with the aforementioned fan-loved classics Hatebreeder and Hatecrew Deathroll. Both records are Children Of Bodom at its song-writing apex, and the albums have assumed their place in metal lore as a result of their longevity and longitude.

“Hatecrew Deathroll is a pretty solid record,” Seppala relays. “It’s a consistent record. We play a lot of songs live from that record and that tells a lot. But also, that was the first big record we did in the American market. It was a ground-breaking thing for us. I think the first three albums are more like the older sound because they are still quite like the neo-classical influence. Hatecrew started the modern song-writing. It’s the borderline between the ancient Bodom and the newer stuff. With Hatebreeder, it’s mainly nostalgia when I look back on that. It was the second album and there was a lot of pressure for us. We were surprised with the reaction to the first album, so Hatebreeder wasn’t so easy to do. Hatebreeder was a long time ago. It was hard work, but we were just young guys. I don’t like the sound, it’s a little too clinical. A little bit too sharp. It’s not very natural or groovy. But that was part of our development and it was really important to make those choices for recording because we were really developing as players. The guy who was recording it was really strict, he wouldn’t let anything that wasn’t perfect on the album. It was like a growing up experience as musicians.”

So, yes, back to French-speakers in Children Of Bodom. How is it that a Finn from just outside Helsinki speaks French - Canada’s official language along with English - fluently?

“I went to the École Française in Helsinki and then I just kept on studying French in high school and then a little bit in university. I have French friends back home, and I also lived in Tunisia, in Tunis, for a couple of months. French is my first language, and I picked it up again in Tunisia.”

As for the group’s native Suomi (Finland), Seppala is quick to acknowledge his country’s role in Children Of Bodom’s sound.

“We’ve been living in Finland for 30 years and we wrote all the songs there, too. So, of course, it’s a big deal. It’s our whole identity, and our view of the world is very Finnish. It’s a Finnish point of view. People always ask why Finland has so many metal bands, is it because we have such long, dark winters and people are depressed? I don’t know if that’s the case. It’s hard to tell how much being from Finland affects us, but of course it’s a big part of us. But what would the difference be if we were from France of Portugal? I don’t know the answer to that (laughs).”

To mark the anxiously-anticipated return of Finnish bashers Children Of Bodom on their first cross-Canada headlining tour, BraveWords.com is offering up tickets to each date along with a COB t-shirt, limited edition COB lithograph, super edition deluxe CD/DVD of their blistering new album, Relentless Reckless Forever.

That's not all … at the end of the tour, one lucky winner will score an ESP Bass Guitar!

To get your hands on the ultimate COB prize-pack, send us an email at contests@bravewords.com with the subject line "I Want To Meet COB In The Pit". Winners will be chosen at random and notified 48 hours before the show.

PLEASE TELL US WHAT SHOW YOU WANT TO ATTEND!

All entries will be put back into the draw for the ultra exclusive ESP Bass Guitar!!! Contest ends on July 24th.

Visit the ESP Guitar Company at ESPGuitars.com.

Upcoming COB Canadian tour dates include:

July

21 - Halifax, NS - Multipurpose Centre
23 - Toronto, ONT - Downsview Park (Heavy TO)
24 - Montreal, QC - Parc Jean-Drapeau (Heavy MTL)
“We are psyched to see all of our friends in North America and to play our new songs live for all of the Bodom maniacs,” commented COB guitarist / vocalist Alexi Laiho. “Get ready to throw it down!”