18.02.21 | Alex Sievers
2005 was a big 12-month window for music! Fall Out Boy’s breakout ‘From Under The Cork Tree,’ The Mars Volta’s first step toward glorious self-indulgence with ‘Frances The Mute,’ the core of The Black Dahlia Murder’s evil sound on ‘Miasma,’ Bullet For My Valentine exploding due to ‘The Poison,’ Trivium making their claim on ‘Ascendency,’ Avenged Sevenfold blowing up more by way of ‘City Of Evil,’ and 30 Seconds To Mars getting big off the 40% of ‘A Beautiful Lie’ that people actually remember and like.
As for the great fifteen albums from 2005 that are covered here, they might not necessarily be the biggest from their respective creators, but they are some of these artists’ strongest offerings. Equally important, these are releases that I dearly enjoy and deeply respect. Albums that I personally revisited many times during 2020 when they all hit this milestone; albums that have withstood time, the harshest critic of the
OUTBURN ONLINE
January 7, 2021
INTERVIEW WITH ALEXI LAIHO BY DANIEL HINDS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANGELA BOATWRIGHT
Bristling with a punk energy and otherworldly technical chops, Children of Bodom’s latest disc
Blooddrunk is a masterwork of everything these Finns do so well. From the explosive opening of “Hellhounds on My Trail” to the blinding “Roadkill Morning,” there is barely a moment of peace as the band charges through a maelstrom of thrashy riffs, virtuoso solos, and ravaging vocals with deceptive ease. Eager to get back on the road, vocalist and guitar whiz Alexi Laiho offers his thoughts on the band’s sixth studio release and what keeps Children of Bodom going strong.
On Jan. 4, the extreme metal community suffered a crushing blow when news broke that Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho had died the previous month. After diving back into Bodom’s catalog for two weeks, I was able to reflect on Laiho’s legacy as a once-in-a-generation guitar hero, a world-class showman and an inspiration to countless metal fans.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Children of Bodom.
It was a gray, bitter February evening in 2008. My best friend at the time was sleeping over, and he had brought a copy of the Finnish quintet’s most recent live album/DVD,