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By Travis Tutwiler |
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Their heavy touring regimen and unique sound have been steadily building fans since their first US tour in 2003 for Hatecrew Deathroll. Warman and COB cohorts – Alexi Laiho (vocals/guitar), Roope Latvala (guitar), Henkka T. Blacksmith (bass) and Jaska Raatikainen (drums) – combine stellar guitar and keyboard solos, thunderous drums and driving rhythms, resulting in a fierce onslaught of metal precision that can’t be ignored. In fact, Lamb Of God tapped them for this year’s crushing No Fear Tour that made a stop in Dallas on April 26. “The tour is going good,” Warman says, with a bit of hesitation. “As you probably know Alexi is a bit injured right now so that’s kind of casting a shadow over our shit. He fell out of his bunk on the bus and seems to have broken his shoulder, and it’s causing him a lot of pain on stage. It happened like two days before the Dallas show, so you were one of the first ones to witness the whole bullshit. I’m just glad we’re still on the tour because, it’s been a good tour and we didn’t really want to go home.” The injured Laiho can find comfort in the news that he was voted as “Best Metal Guitarist” in 15th Annual Guitar World Reader’s Poll, beating out Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Alex Skolnick (Testament). “I haven’t talked to Alexi about that, but I know he’s very honored and of course you’d have to be,” Warman proudly relates. “We all know he’s talented.” Surviving the tour may require some luck, but it will be a while before these road warriors have a chance to recuperate. They’re touring the rest of 2009. “In the summer we’re doing a bunch of festivals in Europe, like always,” Warman states. “Then we’re coming back in the fall for a mainly Canadian tour with just a couple of dates in the US, but that’s going to be the last tour of the Blooddrunk release. After that we’re going to start concentrating on writing a new album.” Of course, COB fans won’t have to wait long to get their hands on a new disc. Known for covering songs from artists like Britney Spears, Kenny Rogers, Poison, Iron Maiden and Ozzy, to name a few, the band will be releasing Skeletons In The Closet this fall. According to Warman, “We have the final word and all the cover songs we’ve done can’t fit on one album. Because we’re recording two more covers, nobody at this point knows what’s going to be on the album. I’ve seen a bunch of weird-ass f*cking lists on the internet about what we’re going to release, and none of them are true.” Most people would understand the band’s cover of “Aces High” by Iron Maiden but not “Oops!..I Did It Again” by Britney Spears. Warman sheds light on this, stating “You know, it would be so lame for us to keep covering bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden and Slayer because we’re a metal band. So we try to do something different every time and, with our covers, we also try to shock our audience. People were really freaked out by the Britney cover but, you know, we just try to bring something fresh every time.” With each stop in Dallas, the support for COB continues to grow and Warman is extremely grateful. “I just want to thank all the fans for coming out to the shows and buying albums and supporting us, because that’s what keeps us alive and keeps us coming back to Texas.” |
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