Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho hails from Finland, the suicide capitol of the world, and he named his band after one of the most infamous mass murders in Scandinavian history.
So it’s a surprise to find that the vocalist and heralded guitarist is actually something of a party animal. Laiho has good reason to revel: COB’s fourth full-length, Hate Crew Deathroll (Century Media), has taken the band’s neck-snapping, keyboard-happy death/thrash hybrid to new heights and has sent the group on a cross-country trek with Fear Factory and Lamb of God. What could please a Nordic riffmaster more? Glad you asked.
Favorite vodka Finlandia
“I like to drink my vodka with cranberry juice or in a White Russian—that’s my favorite drink. It’s kind of hard to explain what a good vodka tastes like, but a shitty vodka tastes sugary; sweet but in a really
bad way. Tastes kind of like puke.”
Favorite hangover cure Pizza
“I get this one pizza at least once a week. It’s hot pepperoni, jalapeños, and this taco sauce on it. That’s my favorite hangover cure—eating pizza and watching Die Hard.”
Favorite action-movie star Bruce Willis
“It seems like Bruce Willis did all these movies where he’s this cranky cop who’s always on suspension and he’s always hung over and shit like that. And that’s just funny.”
Favorite nail polish color Black
“I never ever buy nail polish—I always get it from some chicks.”
Favorite cigarette Lucky Strikes
“When I started smoking, Sonny Crockett from Miami Vice was smoking Lucky Strikes, so we were all like, Yeah, we got
to do that shit. But I realized that they actually are better than anything else.”
Favorite Finnish curse word Vittu
“It means cunt, but you use it like fuck. It’s the worst Finnish curse word there is.”
Favorite English curse word Fuck
“It’s such an obvious answer, but it’s a good one. I just love it.”