Children of Bodom

 Today in 1997 Children Of Bodom released the album Something Wild

Espoo,Finland Melodic Death/Power Metal

Status:Active

Years active: 1993-1997 (as Inearthed), 1997-present

Named for an infamous murder case in their homeland (The Lake Bodom Murders), Children Of Bodom quickly became one of the top metal bands from Finland, with their potent and oft-imitated blend of progressive-laced speed/power metal with ferocious black vocals proving to be a hit with metal fans the world over, as evidenced by their Top Ten placings in the 2000's.

Spinefarm Records

Alexi Laiho – vocals, lead guitar

Alexander Kuoppala – rhythm guitar

Janne Wirman – keyboards

Henkka Seppälä – bass

Jaska Raatikainen – drums

1. Deadnight Warrior (3:21)

2. In the Shadows (6:01)

3. Red Light in My Eyes, Part 1 (4:28)

4. Red Light in My Eyes, Part 2 (3:50)

5. Lake Bodom (4:01)

6. The Nail (6:17)

7. Touch Like Angel of Death (7:46)

8. [silence] (0:10)

Total Time: 35:58

This album was recorded under the moniker 'IneartheD'. The band had to change its name to 'Children of Bodom' to get out of their rip-off record deal with a small Belgian label so Spinefarm could release 'Something Wild'.

Recorded and mixed at Astia Studio.

The first edition has different logo on the cover.

The only song on this CD that truly has lyrics is "Touch Like Angel of Death". The rest were all made up on the spot in Alexi's mind during the recording process.

Limited imports come as digipack with shaped CD, like the reaper's hand.

The intro of "Deadnight Warrior" is taken from the movie "It" and the intro speech for "The Nail" is taken from the movie "Ben-Hur". The opening riff for "Red Light in My Eyes, Part 2" is from Mozart's Symphony No. 25 and later there's a riff from his Requiem K.626: 'Confutatis'; the intro to Red Light in My Eyes, Part I is from Bach's Two Part Invention No. 13.

At the end of "Touch Like Angel of Death" there is silence, followed a hidden keyboard session (01:19) often refered to as 'Coda', played by Alexi and Alexander (both one hand of the keyboard). Originally, this melody is from Miami Vice. This instrumental is NOT 'Bruno The Pig' (read below).

The original version of the CD contains a hidden track "Bruno The Pig" after track 7 has ended (this means: after the hidden keyboard solo). 'Bruno The Pig' is nothing but an 8th track containing 10 seconds of silence.

The Spinefarm Digipack re-release has an early version of 'Children of Bodom' as a bonustrack. The track also appeared on the 'Children of Bodom' split.

8. Children of Bodom (Early Version) 5:10

The Japanese edition has a cover of Sepultura's "Mass Hypnosis" (04:03).

Nuclear Blast re-issues comes with metallic cover and two cover songs:

08. Silent Scream (Slayer) (3:17)

09. Don't Stop At The Top (Scorpions) (3:24).

The CD also has enhanced features for the computer like the "Deadnight Warrior" music video.

The Korean edition came with a bonus track from Tokyo Warhearts:

8. Deadnight Warrior (Live in Tokyo) 3:31

The 2008 re-issue comes with bonus tracks:

8. Children of Bodom (Original Single Version) (05:10)

9. Mass Hypnosis (Sepultura Cover) (4:04) *

* at the end of this bonus track is some silence followed by the hidden keyboard solo 'Coda' that was at the end of 'Touch Like Angel of Death' on the original editition of the album.

In the 2008 re-release there are some errors in the booklet.

Under the photo of Henkka Blacksmith, it reads Janne Wirman and under the photo of Jaska Raatikainen it reads Henkka Blacksmith. However the correct names correspond with the photos of Alexi Laiho, Janne Wirman and Alexander Kuoppala.

Something Wild is the debut album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released in 1997.

The album presents a darker and generally more experimental sound than the one present in their later albums, and contributed most to the infamous genre controversy of their classification as a death metal or black metal band at the time. A fair helping of black metal was still present, due to Alexi Laiho's stint (as lead guitarist) in Impaled Nazarene and his self-professed "roots being in black metal".

In a recent interview Laiho claims that the band at the time were inspired by "a lot of black and death metal bands" such as Dissection and Hypocrisy as well as classic rock/metal bands like the Scorpions, and that many other new bands in the scene were "trying to sound like Dimmu Borgir", leading to them wanting to do something "different". Laiho had gone on to consider the album their "most important", as it "put us on the map".

The song-writing here is much more free-flowing and the use of keyboards and strong neo-classical metal influences are much more prevalent than they would be in future releases such as Hatebreeder or Follow the Reaper.

The "Deluxe Edition" was released much later in 2002 and includes bonus material.