Children Of Bodom's "I Worship Chaos" - Alexi Laiho's Five Favorite Licks

Alexi Laiho stopped by the GW HQ to show us his five favorite riffs off the new Children Of Bodom album, "I Worship Chaos" due out on October 2nd!

[@jonjones3958]

Give the guy credit for having the confidence to play with such an unforgiving tone. This is as raw as it gets and leaves little room for error (sloppiness). I give him praise for distancing himself from every other player relying on a pre-packaged and over processed sound.

[@XMetalChefX]

He was a devout Lee Jackson preamp user in the day. They were extremely dry but brutal, like a vht pitbull almost. You have to have really good technique to nit sound sloppy through them.

[@gonza.shreds]

Yeah he always loved that kind of tone. When it came about showing his rig he always talked how the gain was at about 5-6 and not more than that, passive pickups and never scooped the mids. What a champ.

[@Lomni]

@@gonza.shreds passive pickups with massive gainboost. The gain came from the preamp in the guitar, not the amp.

[@quitegenius]

@@gonza.shreds And he usually used the same tone for solos too. What a boss!

[@221b-l3t]

Yes his tone is super boxy. I personally don't like that for myself more of a fluid PAF type guy but Alexi makes it work. He sounds very fluid, only when he plays slowly you notice it. But it's a tone I like for practicing because it's so unforgiving, it's in a way similar to an old style blues sound but just way more gain. In both cases sloppiness is punished instantly. Sometimes he sounds a little sloppy but that's the tone. If he was playing through Yngwie's rig it would be extremely smooth and fluid because Yngwie doesn't always play that cleanly, which his tone doesn't punish nearly as much. With the tube screamer (DOD250, same idea) into a cranked Plexi, low output pickups, compressor and EQ.

[@NickRiffs]

Rest In Peace Wild Child! What a sad way to start this year. One of the best guitarists and songwriters of our generation gone way too soon. Rest easy Alexi

[@BikFlofer]

I'm never going hear him say "bezzigly" ever again... :( Rest in peace Alexi

[@nazrisemuni224]

can you point at what time did he say this on this video?

[@BikFlofer]

@@nazrisemuni224 0:58 1:02 2:08 2:23 3:19 4:22 4:58 5:22 5:34 5:37

[@Nakkiteline]

ah that's so standard finnish pronunciation, some words like basically are quite hilarious in finglish, we say it beizikli or beisikli because we don't use z but it's more or less s sound 😆 i speak the same way our language is pronounced in such a different manner that it makes for hilarious accent 😆 beisikli wii pronounse evriting very beisikliii pat understandaplii. 😆🇫🇮

[@nurrahmanirfan8782]

RIP Alex , thanks for all of your music

[@Jay-sy5yf]

What an amazing musician

[@verstimmungverstimmung6857]

+Josh Brown phahah lol

[@DLX2727]

@@verstimmungverstimmung6857 Poser like you would never wrote masterpiece like Hatebreeder or Follow the Reaper so shut the fuck up and go try to tune your guitar beacuse thats all you can do.

[@quitegenius]

"hi it's Alexi from Children of Bodom" still makes me nostalgic. ☹

[@thecharvelshredder]

To everyone bitching about the tone, it's meant to fit with their mix. Listen to the full mix and it'll make more sense.

[@crazymike1706]

+Vivian Mistix I think the tone sounds great. I guess it depend what speakers a person uses.

[@DeathPandaDanceParty]

+Vivian Mistix I don't think that's his actual tone. It sounds like other Guitar World tutorial videos and all the vids have people complaining about the tone and blaming Guitar World.

[@mikeimmonen6619]

@@DeathPandaDanceParty Guitar world tones have a flubby low end. You can have a lot of low end but most 80s groupies were tighter than this

[@LanceHarverye]

One of the greatest guitarists ever !!!

[@jasminepatrick5669]

Lance Harverye what are you like 16.....

[@tyler_bt3326]

Jasmine Patrick hey, everyone has their influences and opinions. No need to mock somebody for it. Say what you want about Alexi but he'll always be the reason I started playing guitar :)

[@AgeofJP]

KiLl3R Mem3StAR So did I...I think it's a natural phenomenom with CoB, either you don't really like them or you worship them, there's rarely an in-between. The only two people I know personally who like CoB as much as I do both started playing guitar because of him. It's not his playing itself that made me worship him as I do admit he plays sloppy live, but it's his ability to write whole albums that I can listen through without disliking any of them. There are some songs on later albums that I don't love but they had 5 albums without a single weak song and even the later albums have more awesome songs than weak ones. Hellhounds on my Trail and Transference are literally the only two songs I dislike and the latter still has a part that I love to play on guitar. In comparison, my 2nd favorite bands would be Amorphis, In Flames and Dark Tranquility and for those I have playlists that include less than half of their songs (and not because IF changed their style, I actually dig their newer albums just as much as the older ones)

[@rodolfoperalta5180]

I do believe he’s one of the greatest and I’m not even a big CoB fan

[@tedats]

People can play more perfectly than Alexi but not one person can play it like Alexi!

[@TheHeavyMetalJunkie]

Morrigan - one of the best COB riffs ever

[@the_Falcon_fall]

Agreed

[@proletariatbourgeoisie9929]

Yuuuuuup

[@vincentzombi3916]

It’s a great song!! Had to tune one of my guitars just for that song

[@Snoopaloop1981]

First time i heard that song I couldnt wipe the smile off as I listened to it probably 3 times back to back.

[@wolowizard4441]

It’s the open chord that does it for me, it’s such a fucking good riff. When ever I play the song I have to restart it at least 3 times just to hear the first 20 seconds

[@faridguzman91]

Rest in Power, Wild Child

[@nickstalker3254]

his tone is one of the cleanest, pronounced tones in metal, you can hear each note he plays. lots of mids. love it. keep in mind hes not playing through a computer, or a kemper. this is still a player using an actual amplifier and cabinet.

[@kristijanfistrek9055]

There is a shit ton of uneccessary low end in his sound here, mids are literally getting drowned in it.

[@loganpriest6029]

@@kristijanfistrek9055 it'd be the gear they supply at guitar World, you literally have everybody who has a phenomenal tone normally, have that same pretty flat heavily bass driven tone when they make an appearance here and demonstrate some of their riffs. Quite disappointing really because Alexi sounds amazing normally

[@DanielS-zq2rr]

Most artists still use real amps... Even the vast majority i'd say.

[@AGRGTR09]

Any other way aint fuckin Rock n Roll....much less Metal!!!!

[@lusario2650]

​@@DanielS-zq2rryou'd actually be surprised

[@impetus_aus]

The riff to "I Worship Chaos" is fucking brutal.

[@oni6574]

Yes!!

[@haydenmoore584]

i miss you so much Alexi, im cryin right now. you were a father to me growing up. i miss you so much

[@20DoseOver]

i still can't believe that he is gone...

[@mikaInk67]

Same Bro...

[@brandonharris9160]

I don't care what the OG Bodom fans say, I Worship Chaos has some of the best Bodom songs I have ever heard. R.I.P Alexi

[@kackiman1]

Great lesson from a riffmonster!!!!!Thx for posting that!!!!!!

[@thebeardedalchemist]

Never thought I would have to write this to my favorite guitar play and band, RIP Alexi you will be missed!! 😢😢😢😢

[@craigg8574]

Miss this crazy guy. I think i watched so much of him growing up and all those lessons, especially those metal guitar dvds that my playing style, down to hand placement, mimicks him a lot. So talented and extremely knowledgeable 🙏🏽

[@DaveDoingDaveThings]

everyone complaining about the guitar tone; Have you tried listening through decent headphones instead of shitty phone speakers or laptop speakers. Its really not that bad. Honestly, some of you are like fucking wine critics.

[@SecretEyeSpot]

Drives me crazy. Every fucking video I watch from Guitar world.. filled with tone snobs..

[@chasebroughton7373]

People need to realize that it's Alexi's/the performer's/the guitarist's tone...not theirs...

[@sclerenasya2369]

​@@JoneHoftun possibly due to the low tuning on the 6th string

[@Kuniyurei]

in all my years listening to Children of Bodom, and idolizing Alexi Laiho, I've never seen him do an in depth tutorial with his songs not to mention how he plays it. You could see in his previous, he looks uninterested or what not. I wouldn't complain alot, since one of the most amazing guitarists in the world shares something like this.

[@mebematthew0]

Skwisgaar Skwigelf wasn't an exaggeration at all, apparently.

[@blakethomas3366]

not even slightly lol

[@thehalfandhalfkid4946]

This is the best comment I’ve seen all day lol

[@HushtheMag]

The only modern day dude who can make a fedora look cool.

[@joeh.9223]

@AndrewSandrew Hahaha, I was going to say that too!!

[@howtoshootstraighthtss4948]

How about sinister gate? From a7x

[@apollon1ghts]

I expect to see here main riff from "I Hurt". It's really damn good! :(

[@sakibislam4245]

Rest in peace my childhood hero...

[@izwizmusicbizizzy6744]

your a legend Alexi! thanks for keeping every day strong with your music!!

[@metallicsavage788]

Such a unique technique in which he made his own. RESPECT. A great loss. RIP.

[@slashmacleod]

Dimebag, Randy, Stevie Ray, BB, Jimi, Alexi. These are the Gods of tone and color anyone that plays guitar knows and adores. Except there is no room for error with their sound, that's how good they are.

[@221b-l3t]

They are quite different. Randy had that "Plexi about to blow up a city block" sound. So much gain, it sounded like the amp was burning up. That can make it a little easier but if you do play as clean as Randy it still has the definition. Stevie and Hendrix have a similar style of tone, also a lot more fluid though achieved differently. Both a cranked Plexi style amp, Jimi with a fuzz and Stevie with a tube screamer. I think Alexis is the most boxy of them and the most punishing tone.

[@kezothehappylurker787]

I like this dude, he respects the right hand...Always a mark of a great musician!

[@Balithazzarr]

I appreciate how he has many different turnings

[@scarletbond2716]

he is too cool and soo original

[@lumabargo]

I'm not fucking around he's probably got one of the prettiest hands out there in the entire world.

[@sylvainmarc2638]

I miss COB, a new album, more of Alex's videos 😭 RIP man! I hope you're fine where you are now, we don't forget you

[@morriganaensland5514]

Well, I like how Alexi shows riffs from their album. This might be interesting. Also, the Morrigan riff, I like how he nailed it :)

[@mamzellepunkette06]

Amazing musician!

[@tomhill748]

Man I miss this dude. The smoothest right hand you’ll ever see.

[@jgmopar]

I like reading the comments people leave. Just remember he is doing better than all of us musically. I never made an album, he plays guitar better than me and his tone is better than mine.

[@overklokk3d813]

Finally an honest comment. Thanks. I feel the same btw. Never knew there were so many closet virtuosos in the world. They have all this unreleased material with these gorgeous tones they aren't willing to share.

[@Willee85]

Aleksi we miss you RIP

[@shanikhan00]

hey its alek from chillin in bodom

[@jona7940]

lmao

[@ZenMastah]

I'm laughing for few minutes after reading this

[@user-vv7gt2hu7p]

If you put captions it says 'hey it's laxative'

[@Champino443]

I've laughed at this for years it's so true...and yes the subtitles def say laxative hahahaha

[@darsiachraf1815]

Rest in Metal wild child 🤘🏼🖤

[@MegadethTV5]

Alexi such a badass😂

[@anthonychrismignella]

awesome!

[@RobbieBonkers]

Still can’t believe he‘s gone 😔

[@AgeofJP]

Now I'm hyped for All for Nothing as I really enjoyed that riff

[@benspudich422]

Sucks he is gone he’s such a great guitar player it bites big-time rest in peace

[@ЕвгениНайденов-ш4в]

Such a stylish and unusual hat for Alexi.

[@lordberly]

Clicked this video just because of matching font's background green color on the thumbnails with Alexi's guitar and the font color on his shirt

[@Bemaritohtori]

YT captions: "Hey it's a laxative for children bottom"

[@nickolaslandon4640]

Just learned of his passing from these comments. I had to google it to believe it. Wow im shocked. He was such an amazing guitarist

[@221b-l3t]

Yeah I found out late too. I wasn't listening to that much metal around that time and it somehow didn't make the news. A year back ir so I though, man I want some Bodom, started listening to them a lot again and thought, hey let's see what my favourite crazy guitarist is up to and I saw that he had died years ago..

[@samsonchavez8578]

love the new album lexi!!

[@youngishkoday2839]

Morrigan is such a great song!! \m/

[@eljefe8564]

Heroes get remembered, but legends never die

[@lithiumirl2238]

Alexi is always chillin' at Bodom...

[@BookieCrook]

It's basically one string, but I use 3…

[@bazarista4720]

awesome riffs

[@siddsunwar7431]

Awesome tone ...

[@kefren1322]

And there`s that! RIP legend

[@vgeesnaps]

RIP ALEXI.

[@kiliansommer]

All for Nothing is the best Song Ever Heard 😢😢😢❤❤

[@Ren-s2x]

Very good job Alexi! Love the Morrigan song!!! :) You is fucking genius amazing music maaaaaaan from fucking Finland!!! :)

[@Barry018018]

i love him

[@ManosKaraman]

Cool riffs!

[@notrdy4thisjelly546]

A Grandmaster of this craft

[@fistofthesnortstar]

WHY HASN'T ANYONE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE SOUND YET?! this is driving me nuts, not the sound mind you, it sounds great in the mix, but this is GW damn it, someone needs to go "omg his sound is shit, i've been playing for 30 years and i sound so much better" really damn fast !

[@Trials-and-Tribulations]

+Caeryx There is mids, he's using no reverb.

[@15elmerfin97]

+Caeryx he has always said that he likes to crank mids up and in case you aren't too familiar with marshall amps you should know that they have quite strong mid-range. IMO his tone in this vid is a lot better than in most ones. also alexi doesn't almost ever use any effect pedals whatsoever except overdrive pedal

[@luukraver]

+tuulenkoti You do realize that you just cussed out the guy who was taking the piss out of those people who complain about the sound all the time, right?

[@keylllogdark]

+tuulenkoti fuck up piece of shit...

[@luukraver]

Rusty Shackleford Dude, don't. You don't want to touch this one with a ten foot pole.

[@Nico_Myco]

RIP legend

[@wesliggett2454]

Can you imagine what this man is doing with Warrel right now?! Hoping to hear it some day!

[@GoldfingerESP]

My Legend !! Rest in Peace my brother

[@Jancek34]

Damn! It Will take years to play like this :(

[@happydeux2254]

I wish he would do a tutorial on man-makeup. I always struggle with my eye-liner

[@assaultedpeanut9]

You mean guy liner

[@ylcn77ylcn]

very nice great

[@mcbruin7774]

Please god people give the Danger Zone cover on this album more credit

[@jyaneso]

Great Cover !! Among on their Best!

[@mrmaybe]

The title says 'licks' yet the video is about riffs.

[@alanoffer]

Why is everybody complaining about the tone he's not meant to sound like Chet Atkins

[@charliefoxtrotthe3rd335]

I bought the EMG ALX-HZ passive humbucking pickup and I am torn. As far as shredding, that is what that pickup excels at. The midrange and treble bands are very strong. But I can't get any bottom! I never thought a pickup would be so tailored to one specific aspect of the guitar. It is a very tight, very focused low end. So trying to play something like Black Sabbath where you need some flub on the low E string...this is not your pickup. It is like the Mick Thompson Active Blackout's. It is not a bad pickup, just very specific on what it does. My vote? If you are a pure shredder, get this. If you are more a rhythm guy, go with something more like a Seymour Duncan JB. That pickup is more general purpose and not so focused on lead playing.

[@java8]

Alexi fuckin laiho is giving an awesome lesson and everyone is cribbing about the guitar tone. And he is walking through the stuff slow and neat. Damn. People these days.

[@walterknight7110]

Im so stuck with the "All for Nothing" riffs and the song is stay still in my head. R.I.P Master Alexi Laiho 🙏

[@simona8797]

awesome

[@Tchelovekk]

"All for nothing". Please!!!

[@hellrazzer23]

@3:25 what a legendary riff.

[@BeRoyal37]

met that guy in Nebraska. nice guy.

[@TheRuoka]

damn that riff from All for nothing. insane.

[@igordztv]

All For Nothing is a top 3 Children Of Bodom song.

[@FATA-k4v]

Wuts the song tittle

[@happydeux2254]

Is he talking to little person in his guitar neck or something? Maybe there's a little tv in there?

[@mattelrod8613]

he seems like a guy that I would like to grab a beer with. I'm not sure why, he just does

[@FabioDusi-c9f]

Rip Alex respect

[@robertbarrett2262]

is it just me or is mic Thomson tattooed on his right hand?

[@aaaaaa8722]

what pickup does he using?? it looks not him signature pickup. cause logotype isn't "EMG HZ"...

[@chasebroughton7373]

It is his signature pickup It just doesn't look like it since it seems darker on camera and you can't see the dots on the bottom of the pickup unless you focus your eyes on it

[@dzeronut_boy]

The song 'Morrigan' has a resemblance to Trivium's style

[@BaneOfFreeSpeech]

I find bodom to be more fun to play in general to lots of other metal. Kinda like how when I discovered MEgadeth I have yet to play another Metallica song.

[@poot223]

anyone else notice all guitarist describe riffs the same. "you like uhm do this (plays guitar riff) and uhm like this again and play this and ya"

[@Austin6611]

I wish they hadn't dropped to drop B :/

[@Juicexlx]

Morrigan sounds creepy and wicked AF in drop B. The darkness really helps, because the tempo is much slower than the usual trash/speed Metal COB plays. Listen to the whole mix through decent speakers at 1080p quality. This Drop B song is super heavy. I love it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ6WnHeod7mfqpo

[@ekstaasikontiainen]

"This is by the way, kinda like a c-section." Is Alexi a midwife?

[@gredangeo]

What's wrong with the tone? The mids are pronounced so that you can actually hear the fucking riff, particularly since there's no backing instruments that complete the tone. Especially for a KZbin vid. Remember you noobs → "You want to be *haired*"

[@felixstuemke4164]

gredangeo SLAYYYYER!! NO MIDS!!!

[@h80np39]

haha colin is proud :)

[@Schmmarp]

I miss Roope! Get him back!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ww1-756]

♡

[@ww1-756]

♡

[@MountainStreamSwordDude]

I love your stuff Alexi, but DAMN your guitar needs a setup. There's some crazy string buzz going on there

[@15elmerfin97]

+Doppelsöldner maybe thats what he is going for. sounds cool i think. although he said that he uses same gauge strings in every tuning so that might explain that string buzz

[@rustyshackleford4743]

+15 ElmerFIN I don't hear any "string" buzz. Just a tone that suits itself for live performances; the buzz is from the tone, not the strings buzzing against the frets.

[@15elmerfin97]

yeah, i mean i like that kinda "buzzy" tone. doesn't matter where it is coming from

[@DeathPandaDanceParty]

I don't think that's his actual tone. It sounds like other Guitar World tutorial videos and all those vids have people complaining about the tone and blaming Guitar World.

[@xyz_abc752]

I wonder that his guitar's mechanic part is damaged so much.

[@jillalexiestrada2308]

Not associated with anything I nicknamed... Right?

[@RehGo]

I like his hat/sunglasses combo. Very edgy.