![]() Such albums as Hate Crew Deathroll (2003), Are You Dead Yet? (2005), Blooddrunk (2008) and Relentless Reckless Forever (2011) made Children of Bodom a household name in extreme-metal circles and brought Laiho the international acclaim he had longed for. In the years that followed the release of Something Wild, Children of Bodom grew in popularity and became one of the underground’s leading purveyors of melodic death metal, thanks largely to the frantic power riffing and blindingly fast lead runs Laiho churned out on any of the sharp-angled ESP guitars he typically brandished onstage and in the studio. The signing with Spinefarm brought about some immediate and significant changes for Laiho and his Children of Bodom bandmates. ![]() Now that they were free agents, the group was able to “reform” under the new name Children of Bodom and sign with Spinefarm. In order to squirm out of their deal with the Belgians, Laiho and company told the label that Inearthed had broken up and would be unable to deliver an album. While under contract with the Belgian label, the thoroughly more high-profile Spinefarm Records took an interest in Inearthed and offered to sign the group to a more desirable contract. Inearthed released a trio of demo tapes in the mid Nineties and gained some local notoriety playing clubs in Finland before inking what Laiho described to us as “the shittiest contract ever” with a Belgian record label. While in high school, Laiho became friends with Raatikainen, who played drums, and together the two jammed and formed the basis for what would become Inearthed and ultimately Children of Bodom.Įvery day I’d run home from school and play guitar until my parents would almost have to physically knock me out to get me to sleep She helped me succeed in the thing that interested me.” I didn’t have any interest in what my teachers were telling me, and my mom knew I wasn’t going to graduate high school anyway. “Something had to be sacrificed for me it was school,” said the guitarist. (Image credit: Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns) “Every day I’d run home from school and play it until my parents would almost have to physically knock me out to get me to sleep.” Laiho took his obsession with the guitar to new heights while in high school, ultimately cutting classes to stay home and woodshed and teach himself heavy metal and shred techniques from instructional videos. Not only did it blow me away, it also opened up a whole new world for me.”Īs Laiho’s interest in music shifted from classical to glam metal and shred, his parents were fully onboard with his transformation his father even bought Alexi his first guitar when he was 11, a white Tokai Stratocaster. “That was the moment I knew I had to start playing. “I was 10 years old and watching MTV when the video for Steve Vai’s For the Love of God from the Passion and Warfare album came on,” he told us. At 10, Laiho had a religious awakening: he saw God. “It’s a little weird, I know,” the guitarist acknowledged to Guitar World in 2005. His parents even told him that he was singing before he could talk. He showed virtuosic signs at an early age, learning to play violin at five and listening primarily to classical music as a youth. Yes, there was a whole lotta Laiho in our pages over the years - Alexi never said no to any of our requests, and it was our pleasure to devote as much ink to his cause and his music as we did.Īlexi Laiho was born Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho on April 8, 1979, in Espoo, Finland. Laiho appeared on the cover of our April 2005 Virtuoso Issue alongside Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde and also earned a spot in our 50 Fastest Guitarists roundup in July 2008, as well as our 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All-Time blowout special in March 2004. He gave us his time for interviews and photo shoots, participated in lessons both in print and on video, became a Guitar World celebrity columnist between 20, and even conducted a brief interview with the aforementioned Jeff Hanneman from Slayer in our September 2006 issue. That was the moment I knew I had to start playing Alexi Laiho I was 10 years old and watching MTV when the video for Steve Vai’s For the Love of God came on. Learn single note heavy riffs he uses to create songs and his favorite scales for creating melodic and shredding leads.Laiho became a fixture in our pages for many years afterward, as we wholeheartedly embraced our mission to champion this young world-class musician as the new hotshot shredder in town. Alexi has emerged as one of the most gifted guitar players of the past 10 years and in this collector's edition he challenges you to expand your mind and guitar mastery. ![]() In this 4 DVD collector's edition you get more than 50 lessons from Melodic Speed, Shred & Heavy Riffs Levels 1 & 2, 10 never before released lessons, an interview with Alexi, behind the scenes footage and photos on 2 bonus DVDs. ![]()
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