In a new interview with Revolver magazine, Alexi Laiho‘s CHILDREN OF BODOM and BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT bandmate Daniel Freyberg says that he “definitely” didn’t see his death coming.
“He seemed as normal as ever,” Daniel said. “Yeah, I definitely didn’t see this coming.”
“He was a very humble guy. Never made a fuss about himself, you know? He had an excellent sense of humor — really black, gallows humor. It was awesome. He was a very down-to-earth guy and a private guy outside of the band.
Freyberg continued: “He was very likable. Everybody wanted to be around him and everybody wanted a piece of him. That was exhausting to him — he was always in the spotlight. But he was very loyal and generous towards his friends and always curious about how they were.”
Last week, it was revealed that Laiho died of “alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue.” Furthermore, Alexi had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system.
Alexi Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen founded CHILDREN OF BODOM in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert in December of 2019. Last year Alexi Laiho put together BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT, who recorded three songs and shot one music video, which will be released later on posthumously.
Besides CHILDREN OF BODOM, Laiho was known for acts such as WARMEN, SINERGY, KYLÄHULLUT and THE LOCAL BAND. Awarded with a Metal Hammer Golden Gods and several other international prizes, the guitarist was also the main star, leading a group of one hundred guitar players at Helsinki Festival in 2015 in “100 Guitars From Hel” – a massive concert piece he composed.
