Children of Bodom Frontman Alexi Laiho’s Ashes Were Finally Buried Almost A Year After His Death

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Almost one year after his death, the ashes of Children of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho have been laid to rest.

Laiho’s last earthly remains were interred at the Malmi Cemetery, a cemetery in the Malmi district in Helsinki, Finland. The event was cataloged on social media by Australian music publicist Kelli Wright, who claims to have married Laiho three years before his death this past January.

“Finally, with extremely mixed emotions, I can announce MY late, unconditionally and forever loved husband’s ashes were buried yesterday on our 4th Wedding Anniversary,” wrote Kelli in a Facebook post. “The family Laiho plot is where he was buried. Alexi and Kelli 2005 – eternity.”

Though his planned tombstone has not yet been delivered, publicist Heta Hyttinen posted this shot of a memorial candle at Alexi’s gravesite:

 

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A post shared by Heta Hyttinen (@heta_hyttinen)

Alexi Laiho died on December 29th, 2020, but news of his passing only reached the press on January 4th of this year. His cause of death was later revealed to be ‘alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue,’ and he apparently had “a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system.”

Alexi’s death was met with an outpouring of praise and grief from throughout the metal community, including from Slayer guitarist Kerry King, who described Laiho as “a guitar god.”

“Are You Dead Yet? was probably my favorite album by them,” says King back in February. “Even back then I was like, ‘This is the next dude, this is the next guitar hero.’ He’s one of those effortless guys that you watch and you’re like, ‘Fuck! I’ve been working all day and I can’t do that shit?’”

Kerry was then asked about Bodom’s ability to open up for Slayer, a famously difficult feat given that every single person in a Slayer audience is there to see Slayer, and will scream, “SLAYER!” at openers until they stop playing. But King makes it clear that Laiho and Co. actually held their own.

“They went down okay; I’ve seen people go out there and just fail miserably,” says Kerry. “Their setlist was on the heavier side, which is a smart thing to do when you’re opening for us. I was up there almost every night watching them. They’re fun to watch play and Alexi was a guitar god.”

Everyone at The Pit sends their condolences out to Alexi’s family, friends, fans and collaborators during this difficult time of year.

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Words by Chris Krovatin