Children Of Bodom, a band whose albums sold by the millions, did not break up in the way that Alexi Laiho described or as some fans deduced. Janne Wirman, Henkka Seppälä and Jaska Raatikainen showed Helsingin Sanomat the e-mail conversations at the centre of it all and told them what really happened. An excerpt follows:

This is the first time that the three have given a joint interview on this topic, for obvious reasons. “Alexi was the only one to do interviews about the band breaking up, and his versions diverged from the truth.”

Alexi’s death was followed by a long period of mourning, and only now have they stepped up to put the record straight. “The fans have a right to know what happened.”

The reason for the breakup was not that the three surviving members wanted to stop touring for family reasons, which is how Laiho explained it to Helsingin Sanomat in November 2019. “We felt bad about that, also for our spouses. They’d always supported our international careers.”

The ultimate reason for the end was Laiho’s substance abuse, which is what eventually killed him a year after the band broke up. The death certificate mentions liver fatty degeneration and adipose tissue formation in the pancreas. There were also opioids in his system.

“Addiction is an illness, and he destroyed our trust in him with his actions in our business venture. But he apologized for a lot of things, and we did work together even after the band broke up.”

Read the full report at Helsingin Sanomat.

In a recent interview with Chaoszine Henkka Seppälä (bass), Janne Wirman (keyboards) and Jaska Raatikainen (drums) discussed  the band's second beer collaboration with Fat Lizard brewery, dubbed Murder Point. During the interview, they commented on the suggestion of a tribute show to Alexi Laiho, who passed away in December 2020.