CHILDREN OF BODOM Frontman Slams 'Internet Tough Guys'

Lucem Fero recently published an interview with CHILDREN OF BODOM frontman Alex Laiho, conducted by Welsh interviewer Anthony Morgan. Topics of discussion included the band's sixth studio album "Blooddrunk"'s lyrical content, working with Peter Tgtgren (PAIN, HYPOCRISY),the CD's musical stylings, and the music videos for "Blooddrunk" and "Hellhounds On My Trail". Several excerpts from the interview follow:

On how the writing process for "Blooddrunk" began:

"We started writing songs for 'Blooddrunk' in roughly February, I think. We had a decent amount of time to write the music, which was nice. When we were recording the previous album, 'Are You Dead Yet?', it was somewhat hectic we only had roughly two months to work on the material. This time around, the process was more laid back. Yeah, it was pretty nice. In terms of stress at least, it was pretty mellow. 'Blooddrunk' was recorded at this studio (Petrax Studios),and that studio is located in the middle of the woods in Finland. There's this house which has a studio, and that's where we lived for six weeks. It was pretty cool."

On the lyrical content which features on "Blooddrunk":

"Usually, the lyrics are pretty much the same in each song. Having said that, there are a couple of songs which have different topics. For example, the last track is called 'Roadkill Morning'. The whole song is about the worst fucking hangover you could ever imagine, but just multiplied by ten. I actually like those lyrics somewhat; they're very graphic, and discuss how fucking bad you can feel when you have a hangover. As a whole concept, it's actually somewhat funny."

On how Peter Tgtgren's approach to producing Laiho's vocals helped get the best take out of the frontman:

"He was there to record my vocals, and that's what I wanted him to do. It was definitely a good idea, and just made the whole process so much easier for me. Peter is a singer as well, so he knows how to work around the studio. He contributed a lot of good ideas, and things like that. It was most definitely a really good idea to do that; in future, I'm pretty sure we're going to do the same thing."

On how "Blooddrunk" surpasses "Are You Dead Yet?":

"I think it's just more catchy. On 'Are You Dead Yet?', there are a couple of tracks which are probably still my favourite CHILDREN OF BODOM songs ever. As a whole album though, it's not as good as 'Blooddrunk'. 'Blooddrunk', as a whole album, is definitely better from my point of view at least. There are no weak songs, or anything like that. That's why, as a whole album, 'Blooddrunk' is a pretty good one."

On the lyrics for "Hellhounds On My Trail":

"When it comes to the lyrics, I guess the whole idea is the following; your past, and things which you have done in the past, just keep on chasing you. You just can't get away."

On recording covers:

"When it comes to cover tracks, we always have to do a lot of them. We enjoy doing them. For us, it's just boring to do metal covers. Instead of that, we just pick a fucking BRITNEY SPEARS song or something. This time around, we covered acts like CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, fucking KENNY ROGERS, and music like that. That's what really makes it fun - that we can make the BODOM version of a good old country song (laughs)."

On "Blooddrunk"'s album cover, designed by Jussi Hyttinen:

"Do you mean the Grim Reaper concept? We just wanted to have a cover which would fit the album, and I think that it fits 'Blooddrunk' pretty well. The cover is a complete fucking punch in the face, and I think that the album is in that vein as well. They go together pretty well."

On the lyrics for "LoBodomy", written by Kimberly Goss (SINERGY):

"I think the concept of that song concerns just being pissed off about these fucking idiots who surf the fucking Internet, and just write shit about you. Personally, they just make me fucking angry. Like I said, they're fucking Internet tough guys who just hiding behind their bullshit fucking nicknames, and they don't have the fucking balls to come..."

Read the entire interview at www.lucemfero.com.