CHILDREN OF BODOM drummer Jaska Raatikainen is featured in a new interview conducted recently in Cologne, Germany. He discusses the band's new album, Halo Of Blood, how it feels to tour around the world with, and why COB covered a Britney Spears song:

Raatikainen recently checked in with the following update from the road:

"Hello all!

At first I have to apologize for being away these days but the first few days on the road have been quite hectic.

Being on tour in Europe is always something special. The first tour abroad we did as COB was a European tour in early 1998. That tour started from Markthalle, Hamburg, where we again came to play three days ago. It was a hot, sweaty and superb show. Also the shows in Gothenburg, Oslo and Copenhagen were great. The audience in Oslo was particularly amazing - it seemed like everybody was really into the music and they made us feel welcome.

Can´t believe I´d forgotten what daily life is like on a real headline tour. I usually wake up around 2-3 pm and have breakfast. Then I go through e-mails and reply to them (if the internet works) and try to fix the issues that usually come along with the e-mails. There are quite a lot of things you need to take care of on your computer while on tour: all the future tour planning, everything band related and also your personal life that is partly left behind when you leave on tour for several weeks all need tending to.

Next thing I really need is some fresh air and a little exercise. Normally I go for a little sightseeing and walk for 1-4 hours. Then it is already time for dinner and some promotional duties. After all this I start preparing for the show by napping for an hour or so (I know, I am like a little baby and I need lots of sleep for my body to function well) and wake up about an hour before the show.

During that last hour before the show all the most critical things happen. You try to free your mind from the day´s hassle and prepare your body somehow for the next 90 minutes on stage. You can see and feel that both the crew and the band are concentrating on their own things and all that loud shit-talking and joking sometimes just disappears. All the problems or even little changes (not to mention the surprises) before the show are always disturbing and might affect your concentration.

Guests are escorted out of the dressing room at some point - even girlfriends. Only the band and the crew can enter the dressing room without asking. It gets more serious. At this moment you are ready to go on stage and the last few minutes you basically spend calmly waiting for the show to begin and hoping everything is perfectly set up on stage. Then BOOOOOOOM!!

After the show you take a shower and talk about the show if there is anything to talk about. If the show is good you are happy and just smile. You do not wanna talk about a bad show and so you just accept the fact that sometimes it is like that. Those shows with lots of technical difficulties or other problems you usually do go over however and try to learn from any mistakes so they won´t be repeated.

Luckily on this tour every night has thus far been very good.

Take care you all and see you on tour!"

Children Of Bodom's tour schedule is now as follows:

October

10 - Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street *
12 - Sheffield, England - Academy *
13 - Newcastle, England - Academy *
14 - Manchester, England - Academy *
15 - London, England - Shepherd's Bush Empire *
17 - Saarbrücken, Germany - Garage *
18 - Straubling, Germany - Metal Invasion *
19 - Alsfeld, Germany - Stadthalle *
20 - Tilburg, Netherlands - O13 *
21 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn *
23 - Paris, France - Le Zenith **
24 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7 **
26 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 1 **
27 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera **
29 - Sevilla, Spain - Sala Custom **
30 - Lisbon, Portugal - Paradise Garage **

November

1 - Porto, Portugal - Club Hard **
2 - Santiago de Compostella, Spain - Sala Capitol **
3 - Bilbao, Spain - Rock Star **
5 - Toulouse, France - Le Bikini **
6 - Istres, France - Usine **
7 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks **
8 - Milan, Italy - Live Club **
10 - Vienna, Austria - Arena **
12 - Bucharest, Romania - Turbohalle **
13 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Universiada Hall **
15 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Prinicpal Club **
16 - Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205 **
18 - Belgrade, Serbia - Dom Omladine **
19 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska **
20 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic Music Club **
22 - Budapest, Hungary - Petöfi Csarnok **
23 - Zlin, Czech Repbulic - Winter Masters Of Rock **
24 - Cracow, Poland - Klub Studio **
25 - Warsaw, Poland - Stodola **

* special guests: INSOMNIUM and MEDEIA

** special guests: DECAPITATED and Medeia