Children Of Bodom the band that started back in the ’90’s will soon have a whole new lineup in 2020. The final show with the current lineup will take place in Helsinki, Finland on December 15, 2019. Bandmates which include bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith, drummer Jaska Raatikainen and keyboardist Janne Wirman who have played thousands of shows and part of 10 albums, will be parting ways. They have been with the band since the 1990s.

The band released the following statement, “It is with heavy hearts that we announce that 2019 will be the last for Children Of Bodom with this line-up. After almost 25 years with Bodom, thousands of shows & 10 albums it is time for Henkka, Janne and Jaska to step back and change direction within their lives. All three will miss the fans and supporters in every city in every country the band ever played. The last show of this line-up will be on the 15th of December at Helsinki Ice Hall. Tickets still remain for some of the Finnish shows in December. Alexi and Daniel will have further announcements about their plans to keep creating new music in the future. Thanks again for everything – Children Of Bodom.“

The Finnish band recently released Hexed the group’s 10th studio album. They released singles “Grass and Clover” and an animated video for “Hexed,” the title track of their recent album, which dropped back in March. “Hexed,” features black and white animation, and shows various ghouls, silhouettes of the band members and shots of an eclipsed moon throughout its run time. This latest video was created by team of students at the The Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology in Australia with Aaron McLoughlin and Simon Norton producing.

Children of Bodom formed in 1993 by lifelong friends, Laiho (guitar/vocals) and Raatikainen (drums) the band was originally formed under the name Inearthed. Their final live shows with their current lineup run as follows:

12/05 – Rytmikorjaamo – Seinäjoki, FIN
12/06 – Teatria – Oulu, FIN
12/07 – Teatria – Tornio, FIN
12/10 – Tavastia – Helsinki, FIN
12/11 – Pakkahuone – Tampere, FIN
12/12 – Logomo – Turku, FIN
12/13 – Lutakko – Jyväskylä, FIN
12/14 – Lutakko – Jyväskylä, FIN
12/15 – Black Box (final show with current lineup) – Helsinki, FIN

In light of the lineup change, the band have announced that their ‘Hate Crew Deathroll” set that was previously planned for the 2020 ‘Tuska Open Air Metal Festival‘ has been cancelled.

Photo Credit: Owen Ela