Janne Wirman of Children Of Bodom felt relief at their last concert, exhausted from dealing with Alexi Laiho’s problems. Recently, Wirman answered questions at the Q&A session of the listening party for Children of Bodom’s new live album ‘A Chapter Called… Children Of Bodom (Final Show In Helsinki Ice Hall 2019).’ Before his passing, Laiho had become unrecognizable to Wirman, who was severely affected by his illness and problems after 2016. By 2019, the band decided it could not continue. Wirman was sure that Laiho would not ask for help or sober up, eliminating any chance of a future comeback. The decision to disband was based on Laiho’s unwillingness to change. Wirman explained the matter in detail. He said:
“I felt a sense of relief onstage (at the final concert) ’cause I was very tired of Alexi’s problems and constant problems with one guy. And then this guy who was our best friend and who wrote all the music, all of a sudden from 2016 on, just became someone I didn’t recognize anymore. He was a different person, and he was so overcome with his disease and problems and it got to the point in 2019 we decided that this can’t go on anymore.”
He then explained that none of the band members, including himself, believed that Alexi would recover. He added that if they had believed that, they would have taken a hiatus instead of disbanding. He continued:
“That’s why I said that at the time I said that I will never play again with Alexi, ’cause I knew that he will not get sober, he will not get help for his problems. And then it would’ve been a totally different opinion. If somehow any of us would’ve felt that, ‘Okay, Alexi is gonna get help. He’s gonna get better,’ all of us would’ve been, like, ‘Okay, fine. Let’s give him a couple of years and then let’s get back together.’ But that was not foreseeable at the time.”
Alexi Laiho’s Passing
Children of Bodom stopped playing in December 2019 after keyboardist Janne Wirman, drummer Jaska Raatikainen and bassist Henkka Seppala officially left the band. At the time, Laiho told Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that his three bandmates wanted to stop touring with Bodom for family reasons. A year later, Laiho died of alcohol abuse. In 2022, the band members had an e-mail interview with Helsingin Sanomat about what actually happened during this process. They stated:
“Alexi was the only one to do interviews about the band breaking up, and his versions diverged from the truth. We felt bad about that, also for our spouses. They’d always supported our international careers. The fans have a right to know what happened. Addiction is an illness, and he destroyed our trust in him with his actions in our business venture. But he apologized for a lot of things, and we did work together even after the band broke up.”
Jaska Raatikainen also talked about a personal experience he had with Alexi during their last tour in 2019 and the extent of Alexi’s addiction. He said:
“I told Alexi that you don’t usually drink starting at breakfast before a gig. And now you don’t even warm up with the guitar before going onstage like you always do.”
The trio ended the interview by stating that their relationship with Laiho has always been brotherly and that they are honored to know him and to have worked together for so many years. The band members explained that because of their closeness to Laiho, it was very difficult to deal with the whole breakup.
