Children of Bodom had a lot of things going for them: an always evolving attack that defied easy categorisation, a wicked sense of humour and, in the late Alexi Laiho, a guitarist who was one of the most audacious shredders of his era. These gifts enabled the Finnish group to stand apart in Scandinavia’s melodic-death-metal world. Records like 2003’s Hate Crew Deathroll and its follow-up, Are You Dead Yet?, possess a unique ability to both confound and thrill listeners. Epic power-metal moves, horror-soundtrack synths, axe solos that sound like squealing aliens—nothing was off limits for CoB, who sadly called it quits in 2019.