BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT Feat. Former CHILDREN OF BODOM Frontman ALEXI LAIHO: New Music Is In The Works

BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, the new band launched by ex-CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho, is working on material for its debut album.

Joining Alexi in the group are drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, guitarist Daniel Freyberg (ex-CHILDREN OF BODOM),bassist Mitja Toivonen (ex-SANTA CRUZ) and touring keyboardist Lauri Salomaa.

In a new interview with Finland's Kaaos TV, Toivonen stated about BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT's present and future activities (see video below): "We had plans for the summer, and then it backfired [due to the coronavirus pandemic, like we know. It came pretty fast, and we had to figure out something else to do. But then again, I'm not sure if necessarily, in our case, the kind of, let's say, break before even starting was a bad thing, since we got more time to get together and get to know each other."

He continued: "To be honest, it was still a band that, pretty much, Daniel and Alexi were the only guys who knew each other that well. So we had, like, an extended honeymoon before maybe now [starting] to [play] gigs. And I think that was a good thing, in a way, rather than throwing the whole band into the deep end of the Tuska festival and, 'All right, guys. Knock yourselves out.'"

Regarding how BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT has been spending its coronavirus downtime, Toivonen said: "We've been practicing, of course. First, we had some catching up [to do], just to get a feel [for] how the band is gonna sound like and stuff. And now, the state of mind is in a way that things have to move forward. So one thing that we've been really cautious is we don't wanna be labeled as a cover band at the end. Even though the songs, they're all written by Alexi, and they're gonna be performed in the future as well — the old CHILDREN OF BODOM catalog. But the thing is also to keep the train rolling all the time. And we're working on new material. Release dates, honestly, I cannot say, but as soon as we can get something done, we're trying to get something released as fast as we can."

Laiho recently said that he will not shy away from performing his former band's songs when he hits the road with BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT. He told Kaaos TV (translated from Finnish): "We will be playing CHILDREN OF BODOM songs as that is what most of the audience want to hear. Those songs are written by me anyway, so I dont see any reason why not to play them. There will be so-called 'basic' songs, but there are also plans to play one or two songs live which CHILDREN OF BODOM has never played so far and some songs which we haven't played live in ages, so the setlist will be a good mix. We try to play as diverse setlist as possible on each show."

Jaska Raatikainen (drums),Henri "Henkka T. Blacksmith" Seppälä (bass) and Janne Wirman (keyboards) announced their departures from CHILDREN OF BODOM last October. Two months later, they confirmed that they were the rightful owners of the CHILDREN OF BODOM brand.

CHILDREN OF BODOM played its final show on December 15, 2019 at the Black Box in Helsinki Ice Hall. A short time later, Finnish music magazine Soundi reported that the rights to the CHILDREN OF BODOM name are held by AA & Sewira Consulting Oy, the company owned by Raatikainen, Seppälä and Wirman. In June 2019, the trio filed an application with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, and their application was subsequently granted for a five-year period starting on October 1, 2019. As a result, Laiho, who was CHILDREN OF BODOM's singer, guitarist and main songwriter, isn't authorized to use the band's name without permission from Wirman, Raatikainen and Seppälä.

Last November, Laiho admitted to Helsingin Sanomat that there had been tensions in the BODOM camp for quite some time.

"The original decision [to end the band in its current form] came when the other guys said they just couldn't do it anymore," he said. "There were family reasons for it. I respect their decision. I myself have a wife and stepdaughter in Australia, and my wife understands my lifestyle. I'm pretty much gone [most of the time], but always I come back and I give them my all. Nothing is more important to me."

According to Laiho, things came to a head when CHILDREN OF BODOM performed in Russia in October.

"We fought a lot within the band, and I can honestly admit that those fights were mainly my fault," he said. "They always started with some misunderstanding."

Relations within the band apparently got so bad during the Russian tour that it looked as if CHILDREN OF BODOM would break up right there and then. But cooler heads prevailed, and the group decided that the shows in Finland would be their last with the most recent formation.

CHILDREN OF BODOM's last album, "Hexed", came out in March 2019 via Nuclear Blast Records.