CHILDREN OF BODOM released their fifth album, "Are You Dead Yet?," on September 14th, 2005, and split their audience in half. The Espoo band had built their reputation on the neoclassical shredding of "Hatebreeder" and "Follow the Reaper", with Alexi Laiho and keyboardist Janne Wirman trading impossibly fast melodic runs. This record strips much of that away in favour of down-tuned, groove-driven riffing and a colder, more modern production. Purists complained; it became the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching number one in Finland and charting across Europe and the United States. "In Your Face," "Living Dead Beat" and the title track remained in the live set for the rest of the band's life. Laiho died in 2020, and CHILDREN OF BODOM ended with him. The band took their name from an unsolved 1960 murder at Lake Bodom near Espoo, and their mascot, the Reaper, appeared on every album cover of their career.
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