Relentless Reckless Forever

GW PAYS TRIBUTE TO ALEXI LAIHO, THE LONG-TIME CHILDREN OF BODOM GUITARIST WHO REVOLUTIONIZED DEMONIC SHRED IN THE NINETIES AND 2000S AND EMBRACED A HARD-PARTYING LIFESTYLE WORTHY OF HIS “WILDCHILD” NICKNAME

- Jeff Kitts

AS GUITAR WORLD Crosses into its fifth decade of existence, we’ve certainly had to grapple with our fair share of deaths over the years. We’ve said goodbye to countless six-string heroes, including Randy Rhoads, Chuck Berry, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Malcolm Young, Prince, Tom Petty and Chris Cornell, among many others. Truth be told, it always stings a bit more when we have to bid farewell to one of our own, someone who not only had an impact on us musically, but who we were proud to consider part of our family. Dimebag Darrell, Chuck Schuldiner and Eddie Van Halen are a few who fall into that esteemed category — and it is with a heavy heart that we add Alexi Laiho to our list of friends who left us much too soon.

Laiho, longtime guitarist and vocalist for wickedly shredderific Finnish speed/death metal outfit Children of Bodom, died at his home in Helsinki, Finland, in late December 2020. Details of his death, including an official date, were still unclear when the news broke in early January — all that is known at this point is that the 41-year-old musician had suffered from long-term health issues during the last years of his life.