Metal Wani's Owais 'Vitek' Nabi and Rishab Mansur recently spoke with Children Of Bodom keyboardist Janne Wirman. He discusses new album, I Worship Chaos, songwriting, musical direction, the departure of guitarist Roope Latvala, his keyboard solos, touring activities and much more.

Children Of Bodom vocalist/guitarist Alexi Laiho and keyboardist Janne Wirman recently completed their official press junket for the band’s new album, I Worship Chaos. It’s a record that will ultimately keep the faithful Bodomites happy the way the band’s previous album Halo Of Blood did, while offering up a few surprises as it plays out. During the interview for BraveWords – coming soon – we stepped away from I Worship Chaos a little bit to discuss some recent projects outside the band that ultimately remain linked to Finland’s favourite Hatecrew.

And yes, “Hel” is spelled correctly in the title above.

Diehard fans are well aware of Wirman’s other band, Warmen, and Laiho’s connection to it. Unlike Children Of Bodom, which features primarily Laiho-powered songs, Wirman calls the shots along with his brother Antti (guitars) in Warmen. Laiho has made guest appearances on the last three Warmen albums, however, and has performed live with the band on occasion. Warmen’s latest record, First Of The Five Elements, features Laiho on the song “Suck My Attitude”, a track that realistically could have been submitted and recorded as a Children Of Bodom tune without pissing off the vast majority of fans. Much the same way “High Heels On Cobblestone” from Warmen’s previous album, Japanese Hospitality, could have survived the COB treatment.

“Yeah, almost, but that’s not the way we think,” says Wirman. “Sure, if ‘Suck My Attitude’ had a little tweaking done it could almost pass as a Bodom song, but that’s not the point. I think ‘Suck My Attitude’ is more Lamb Of God influenced, and it was written mostly by my brother. Obviously people can hear the Children Of Bodom influence in it, but I hear lots of Lamb Of God in there because both of us are huge fans. It’s funny because it’s almost like a tribute (laughs). Getting Alexi to sing on the song, and the ‘Suck my attitude!’ chorus, just fit perfectly. I love how it turned out, and I really love the fact we got to play it live this summer at the Tuska festival with Alexi singing with us.”

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On October 2nd and 3rd official release parties for Children Of Bodom's new album, I Worship Chaos, will take place across Germany. At this point the band members are not scheduled to attend any of these dates. Stay tuned for updates in case this changes.

Dates are as follows:

October
2 – Rockfabrik - Augsburg, Germany
2 – K17 – Berlin, Germany
2 – Helvete – Oberhausen, Germany
2 – King – Hamburg, Germany
2 – Backstage – Munich, Germany
3 – Live Music Hall – Cologne, Germany
3 – Matrix/Rock Palast - Bochum, Germany

Children Of Bodom have posted two track-by-track videos offering insight and information on their upcoming ninth studio record, I Worship Chaos.