CHILDREN OF BODOM Bassist: 'We've Never Had Any Boundaries With Regards To Our Music'

Ireland’s Overdrive recently conducted an interview with bassist Henkka Seppälä of Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Overdrive: You went back to Danger Johnny Studios for [CHILDREN OF BODOM‘s tenth album, “Hexed”] with Mikko [Karmila] once again. Was there anything different about the way you recorded this album as opposed to, say, “I Worship Chaos” (2015)?

Henkka: “We demoed all the songs before starting to lay down the real tracks, and that was the first time we did things that way. Everybody had time to get their parts down prior to entering the studio. This was a good thing for all of us, as everybody was very familiar with what they had to do and the studio time was less stressful. Other than that, we did everything pretty much the same way we always do.”

Overdrive: This album explores a variety of styles and is kind of a little more progressive in parts and more catchier. There seems to be a bit more confidence on this album. Would you say that there was a conscious thought process to use this album as an evolution in the bands sound?

Henkka: “No, we never really discuss the sound we are trying to achieve. We just practice the riffs that Alexi [Laiho, guitar, vocals] comes up with and then we combine all the parts into songs and we just always finish the songs when we are happy with them. I guess you can say that as long as we are all happy with the finished track, it doesn’t really matter about the riffs, arrangements or anything else. The bottom line is, we all have to be happy with what we created for ourselves. We’ve never had any boundaries with regards to our music, but we don’t go about discussing the creative process with an end result in mind, if you know what I mean. To be honest, if anyone is pushing the boundaries, it’s Alexi. I think he pushes himself with the riffs and the melodies because sometimes they are just so difficult and technical. Even though they might sound more simple, but when you have to play it, it’s, like, ‘Oh shit!’ [Laughs]”

Overdrive: Alexi spoke about the lyrical content on this album as being a filter for all his negative shit and pressing issues. Bearing that in mind, was there any other submissions from band members with the lyrics, or was it just all Alexi?

Henkka: “That’s the only thing that has always been just Alexi’s area in CHILDREN OF BODOM. He’s really spending more time on the lyrical side of things these days. There was a time when the lyrics were almost a necessary evil and he wrote them in the final stages of each album, but lately, he’s been approaching the lyrics before the studio and it’s much more important for him now and I think it really shows. He writes way better lyrics than he used to. The theme of his writing style has always tapped into the stuff that he’s dealing with on a day-to-day basis. I really think he’s a better lyricist nowadays because he’s putting more effort into that side of things. Also, English is not his native language and he’s become more confident in that side of things also.”

Read the entire interview at Overdrive.