INTERVIEW: Henkka Blacksmith – Children Of Bodom

Over the past 25 years, CHILDREN OF BODOM have graced some of the world’s biggest stages engaging countless fans with their venomous blend of melodeath meets blackened thrash offset by that distinctive neo-classical bite. Three years of silence have passed since the release of I Worship Chaos and now the self-proclaimed Hate Crew are ready to usher in a new era of sonic destruction. We caught up with bassist Henkka Blacksmith to get the lowdown on what’s next for the all conquering Finnish five-piece.

Hexed will be your tenth studio release. Almost every one of your records have reached gold or platinum status – do you still feel a certain amount of pressure this far into your career?

Henkka: The business has changed so much lately so we don’t stress too much about sales, numbers, figures and all that. We used to back in the day but lately we’ve realised that it doesn’t really make any difference. As long as we can get out on the road and play the shows, that’s what counts. It’s a lot more important to us that the fans are happy with what they’re hearing rather than what our physical sales numbers are.

It’s been three years since the release of previous record I Worship Chaos. That’s quite a substantial gap between the two records. What was the reason behind that?

Henkka: The new record was actually already mastered in the Spring / Summer of last year, so technically we could have released it in the fall of 2018. But there were certain reasons why the management thought it would be better to postpone it. I’m not exactly sure what the reasons are but for example, once the master is done you should give the label enough time to organise all the press and stuff and also just to print off the physical copies too. And I know that if the release is too close to the Christmas season then it’s not so good for metal music. It is what it is, but it’s almost March now and the whole process has started. Alexi (Laiho, vocalist) been doing press for a couple of weeks, and now the rest of us are having our turn! This phase is always exciting – and there’s a lot of press coming in so that’s a really great sign that people are interested in what’s to come!

How does the recording process work – is it a collaborative effort or do you have a principal lyricist / songwriter and then everyone else offers an opinion or idea? 

Henkka: Alexi writes all of the lyrics and lately he’s been putting a lot of effort into them. He’s been writing for a long period of time now. We don’t really take any part in that. Sometimes he’ll ask us for opinions – what should be the title of this song or this album and so on so in that way we give our input but otherwise he does it all himself. The music is pretty much the same as always – he makes the riffs and melodies at home then the next day we gather at the rehearsal place, try out all the riffs and start putting them together as a team! And then a few days later, we usually have a complete song – although sometimes it can take weeks!

Mikko Karmilla is on board again in terms of the album’s production – he’s worked with the band for a long time now. What is it about him and his work that makes you go back to him time and time again?

Henkka: We’ve known Mikka for a long time now and he’s always been a guy that is just able to create this really good sound when it comes to mixing. I think it was on Are You Dead Yet that we first recorded with him – that’s a long time ago actually! [laughs] He’s a very weird guy, I remember the first time I was like “Oh my god what is it gonna be like to work with him?!” because he doesn’t talk much and doesn’t really express his feelings or opinions and sometimes, he might be a little but blunt. But once you get to know him, it’s a super fun experience and he’s a wonderful guy. I think me and the other guys feel the same in that we have built this trust with him – if I play something and he confirms that it’s good enough, then I know that it’s good enough. He is very straightforward – he will say what he thinks and it is a very efficient way of working.

Another big difference with this record is the band’s lineup. You’ve got Daniel Freyberg (ex-NAILDOWN, NORTHER) on guitar. How did he come to join the band?

Henkka: We had been looking for a new member to join the band and realised that they needed to be based in Helsinki. We started to think about who we knew – Daniel had been doing backing vocals on various albums and someone brought his name up. We didn’t think of him initially because he was perhaps too close to the band, but then we all just said “why not?” I think we were on the road at the time so we asked him to send us a couple of audition tapes of him playing certain songs and he just delivered. We called him up a few days later and the rest was history.

You’ve all known each other since you were kids – you’re probably more like a family than a band at this stage. Was it hard for you all to let someone new enter the fold?

Henkka: In all honesty, I think it’s harder for whoever comes into the band rather than us. I definitely know it was hard for Daniel – he said at the time that he was really nervous and excited about joining this so-called family. But it is so nice to have a fresh pair of ears – he also says what he thinks and also regarding the old songs when we’re planning any setlists. He has a totally different perspective on the songs than we have because we’ve been playing them constantly for the past twenty something years. He’s been listening to us forever so he’ll often say “Guys why don’t we try this song because you’ve never actually played it live before now?” and we’ll be like “yeah, actually why not?” It’s really healthy to have a new perspective on everything.

This Road is the first track on Hexed and it’s noticeably different to CHILDREN OF BODOM album openers in the past. It definitely has a different groove in terms of its overall sound. It comes across as a kind of homage to all your years of touring and playing shows. Is that where the inspiration came from?

Henkka: As always, the song’s lyrics are Alexi’s way of explaining how he feels about everything that’s happened – the best and worst days that we experienced out on the road. The song itself is one of the last ones we composed – its incredibly technical and the riff itself is super complicated. When he said he wanted it to be the album opener, l was like “I don’t think so!” but now that I’ve heard it mixed and mastered I’ve grown to like it a lot and its one of my favourite tracks and I think it was a good choice.

When you listen to Under Grass and Clover there’s elements of 70’s prog and even a bit of 80’s pop thrown in for good measure. Are any of you guys fans and do you take musical influences from those big prog bands like RUSH?

Henkka: I know of RUSH and have huge respect for them as artists and what they do, but I never listened to them. I’m sure the other guys were, but I was never a fan. Despite the respect we hold for their musicianship, they weren’t a conscious influence for me personally – I don’t hear them when I hear the song. The melody is so uplifting – almost cheerful – but it also reminds us of the stuff from the late 90’s that we wrote. It’s just a great mix of the old and the new.

There’s an incredible sense of eeriness to Hecate’s Nightmare with that intro. What bands were you listening to when you wrote that song? Do we detect fifty shades of post-BLACK SABBATH Ozzy Osbourne here?

Henkka: You’re not the first person to say that! I didn’t hear the Ozzy influence in there myself – we actually likened it more to ALICE COOPER when we decided to write it. The whole music box thing came about from the main melody – it was actually supposed to be very different then somebody – maybe Janne (Wirman – keyboards) came up with the idea that we should maybe start with just the keyboard melody at the beginning. Then when we chose the sound for the keyboards it really became like a music box. At first I was like “wow this is a little weird!” but when I hear it now, it really makes sense. It’s creepy even if it IS a little bit poppy and ALICE COOPER-ish! I love the chorus too – I think its one of the best things we have done in a long time.

Hecate was a goddess figure of the underworld – someone associated with magic, witchcraft and necromancy. Definitely someone not to be messed with. Do we detect some real life experiences here?

Henkka: [laughs] Alexi is the person to ask there! He’s been getting into these kinds of figures more and more lately and I’m sure he has some kind of experience with this stuff!

Knuckleduster closes the album. This is actually a reworking of a song that originally featured on an earlier EP. Why the decision to pick this particular track?

Henkka: We’d actually been thinking about revisiting that song because we don’t think it got the attention it deserved the first time around with it being a B-side. It took some time for us to get the confidence to do it again, but we just made the decision to do it. I think Alexi rewrote some of the lyrics and it was really fun to go back to that song. I think its one of our best songs and it’s a shame that it was always just a B-side. A lot of people probably never got the opportunity to hear it in the past. Its not really fitting given the fact that its an old track, but re-recorded I think it was a good thing to do and include on this record.

What would you like to be remembered for with Hexed and what would you like fans to take away from it?

Henkka: That’s a deep question! We just write songs the way we want to hear them – we strive to make them as good as possible and we always choose the riffs and melodies and whatever else that we’re most happy with. It doesn’t really matter what style they are, whether they’re black metal, neo-classical, are reminiscent of ALICE COOPER or Ozzy or whatever else. We’re just always curious to see what the fans think. This is how we are – people can take it as it is and hopefully there will be tracks on here that we can permanently keep in future setlists too.

What’s coming up next for CHILDREN OF BODOM – is the smart money on world domination?

Henkka: We hope so! [laughs] We’re going to be in rehearsal for the next few weeks getting these songs ready so that we can play them live. We’re heading to North America on tour soon and it’s gonna be exciting to try these songs out there for people. I’m excited and a little bit nervous – but I think that’s always a good thing. It keeps things interesting!

Hexed is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. 

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