Children of Bodom Opening Their Own Bar With a Museum and Sauna

Three former members of Children of Bodom have found a new way to continue their legacy, preparing to open their own bar with a band museum and a nod to local culture with the opportunity for fans to experience Finland's sauna culture. This new undertaking that they're calling the Bodom Bar is being led by drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä and keyboardist Janne Wirman.

According to the band members, the idea of opening a bar came about through their travels around the world hitting up some of the most well known rock bars in the world. "We toured actively from 1998 until 2019. We have visited a bar in almost every town we ever played in. From Hard Rock Café Tokyo to a dive bar in the outskirts of Milwaukee. Everything from the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood to the Crobar in London U.K. Almost everyone in our profession dreams of opening their own bar at some point and we were no exception. When the active career of CoB was already coming to an end we started looking into it a bit more seriously," state the three musicians.

"We had a warehouse full of memorabilia and we thought that a lot of people would want to see some of this stuff that used to be and still was very meaningful to us and the career of the band. A thought of a museum felt a bit foreign but an idea of a bar that works as a museum displaying our gear and memorabilia seemed quite natural at this point," they add. "We had almost given up on this dream when the power duo of Jykä Peltonen and Kimmo Helistö emerged and were ready to provide us with their know how in the matter. Together we will build this unholy concoction of hard rock café and dive bar with a lot of Bodom in it."

Teasing a bit of what fans can expect, they offer, "The new HQ of CoB will combine a museum and a bar but also include the possibility to experience the Finnish sauna culture. Situated naturally in Espoo only a stone´s throw away where the band started their career. Bodom Bar & Sauna is being built in Espoo into a location with easy access to a Metro station. The establishment will also include three saunas. There will be no entry fee to the Bar and no age limit. There will be a fee for the sauna experience. We will open the Bar on 10.11.22 – Jaska, Janne and Henkka."

Though expected to open later this fall, the Bodom Bar still remains somewhat of a mystery with their newly launched Facebook page only offering the logo (seen below) at this point. Keep up on the Bodom Bar activities right here.

Children of Bodom formed in 1993 in Espoo, Finland, which is where the Bodom Bar will be located. Raatikainen was an original member, with Seppälä joining in 1995 and Wirman coming on board in 1997. All three members appeared on each of the band's 10 studio albums and remained until a 2019 split, that left singer-guitarist Alexi Laiho and guitarist Daniel Freyberg to continue under the moniker Bodom After Midnight. Sadly, Laiho died in late December 2020 at the age of 41 and Bodom After Midnight decided not to continue without the frontman.