Riff Police! Pull Over! #98: Norther Vs Children Of Bodom!

Released 10 days apart, it seems incredibly unlikely that “We Do Not Care” by Norther could have influenced “Not My Funeral” by Children Of Bodom, unless one heard the others pre-production demos. But listening to both tracks it is undeniable that they both feature very similar riff structures with the Children Of Bodom version opening their seventh studio album “Relentless Reckless Forever” in 2011 and produced by Matt Hyde. Fellow Finnish act Norther recorded their track for “Circle Regenerated“, their sixth record,  recorded and produced by Anssi Kippo at Astia Studios. It was actually the only album to feature guitarist Daniel Freyberg as a full time member. He went on to join Children Of Bodom five years later so maybe Alexi Laiho was a fan of his work already. In 2019 Children of Bodom held their last concert before disbanding as a mass exodus of members left guitarist duo Alexi Laiho and Daniel Freyberg as the sole remaining members. Legally in order to carry on under the name, they would have had to pay the other now former members a regular fee so to prevent that they have rebranded as Bodom After Midnight for 2020.