Janne Wirman — born in Finland in 1979 — was Children of Bodom's keyboard player, and the instrumentalist who made the band's formula possible. Children of Bodom played melodic death metal with a trait no other band in the genre had: the keyboard shared solos with the guitar on equal footing, in duels of neoclassical vocabulary played at extreme speed. That demands a keyboard player able to follow Alexi Laiho note for note — not as accompaniment, but as a second soloist. Wirman was that. His playing comes from training in harmony and serious technical study, and the result is heard on Hatebreeder (1999), Follow the Reaper (2000) and Hate Crew Deathroll (2003), records that established the band as the Finnish name with the widest international reach of its generation. He stayed in the group until its end, brought about by Laiho's death in December 2020. Afterwards he continued with his own projects and studio work, keeping a presence in the Finnish scene — but the keyboard-guitar duel format he helped create has had no equivalent continuation in any other band.
Metalicks is a community-run informational and cultural portal. The information on this page — texts, images, logos, cover art and other materials — is credited to their respective authors, artists, bands, labels and rights holders. Metalicks does not claim ownership over any of the works portrayed here, and all rights remain with their rightful owners. Content is gathered from public sources and community contributions; any inaccuracies can be corrected using the button below. Rights holders who wish to request a correction or removal of any content may do so at any time.
