YMMV / Children of Bodom

• Broken Base: The post-Hate Crew Deathroll albums have various receptions from the fanbase due to increased groove metal influence, though most fans will cite Blooddrunk as the worst album of their career and are similarly likely to view Halo of Blood as the best album from that period.
• Gateway Series: Could serve as this for extreme metal for many metalheads.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The title of Are You Dead Yet? becomes this after the death of Laiho in 2020.
• Ho Yay: The bandmembers are very affectionate with each other, especially Alexi Laiho and Janne Wirman, who go on record as saying their constant snuggling and kissing on stage during solos is because they "get so intense by the medium of heavy metal..." It is not clear why they also often make out offstage. Alexi claims it's a "musical/personal relationship kind of deal."
• Once Original, Now Common: When Alexi Laiho's death was announced at the beginning of 2021, many older listeners had to explain to younger listeners just why Children of Bodom was such a big deal when they came along. Their blend of melodic death metal, melodic black metal, power metal, and just a touch of glam was something fresh and exciting when they emerged on the scene, and Alexi's own blend of technical wizardry and irreverent, "don't give a fuck" attitude made him a guitar hero for the new generation. It was mostly due to the sheer level of influence that Children of Bodom had on modern acts that people who grew up familiar with the tropes that they had created and popularized had to be reminded of that fact.
• Periphery Demographic: They're very popular amongst the so-called "mallcore" crowd, though their music is very different from a lot of other bands popular with this crowd.
• Seasonal Rot: Regardless of what you think of the bulk of the post-Hate Crew Deathroll material, almost all fans will agree that Blooddrunk and Relentless Reckless Forever are their creative nadir and have three or four, maybe five decent songs between them.
• Win Back the Crowd: While Halo of Blood managed this to some extent after two albums that were almost universally considered to be their worst, it was then followed up with I Worship Chaos, which was another poorly-received release. Hexed did a far better job at drawing fans back in, however, as its faithful old-school Bodom stylings and return of the long-absent neoclassical elements were warmly welcomed.

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