Roope Latvala
Encyclopedia
Roope Latvala is a Finnish
guitarist who currently plays with the bands Children of Bodom
and Sinergy
. He was one of the founding members of Stone
, which was one of the first notable bands in the history of Finnish heavy metal
.
. At the age of 15, he founded the band Stone together with Janne Joutsenniemi. The band's style was initially focused on a more traditional heavy metal, but they soon shifted to a faster and more aggressive sound, which was the key for them to receive mass recognition. In the year of 1991, the band was dissolved, with a discography of four studio albums, one live album and one compilation album
. He is the main influence of many Finnish guitarists, especially Alexi Laiho
(from Children of Bodom
).
After the breakup of Stone, he released an instrumental work with his brother, entitled Latvala bros. He then played with Dementia
for around a year. In 1995 he joined Waltari
after guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö
left the band. They played together for 6 years before Roope decided to quit the band.
He joined Sinergy after vocalist Kimberly Goss
moved from Sweden
to Finland and had to reassemble the band; he assumed the role that previously belonged to Jesper Strömblad
(from In Flames
).
During the whole of his career, Roope had many side projects and played as a guest musician in many bands, the most notable of the being: Warmen
, Nomicon, Pornonorsu, Jailbreakers, Gloomy Grim, Amon Amarth, Children Of Bodom, and Soulgrind. At times he also composed movie soundtracks.
When Alexander Kuoppala
left Children of Bodom in 2003 in the middle of their world tour, the members of the band were forced to search for a new guitarist in the time span of one month, when their next show would happen. The new guitarist needed to be able to learn about twenty songs to be played live. Alexi Laiho tried to recruit Kai Nergaard (from Griffin), but was unsuccessful. With little time left, Roope contacted Alexi and asked him if Children of Bodom needed any help on the tour. Alexi agreed that he would be a session player because he's the only guitarist he deemed skilled enough to manage the feat of learning the songs with enough accuracy to replace Alexander, who had been playing with the band for 10 years.
Roope played the Moscow
concert on the 16th of August successfully. Despite the initial announcement that he would be a session player only, he remained with the band and recorded the Trashed, Lost & Strungout EP. He continued playing with the band and also recorded the hit LP "Are You Dead Yet?". He is now a permanent member of Children of Bodom. Roope played two guitar solos on the Children of Bodom album, "Are You Dead Yet?", despite the widely accepted notion that Alexi plays all solos on Bodom albums.
When he joined Children of Bodom, Roope made a deal with ESP Guitars
, which already endorsed Alexi and Henkka Seppälä
. Before that he used Jackson Guitars
almost exclusively (Roope could be seen wearing the infamous Jackson T-shirt that reads Get The Best, Fuck The Rest), and it is not unusual for him to use his old Jacksons live.
There were rumours which said that he would switch sides with Jesper Strömblad of the melodic death metal Band In Flames
, but he denied it saying that he had never heard anything about it, and added "I said that I like Dark Tranquillity
and In Flames. But somebody misunderstood me and wrote silly things in a metal magazine. So we are together with my lovely friend Alexi Laiho and the whole crew."
as the best selling guitar brand in Finland.
ESP guitars released in early 2008 an LTD Roope Latvala signature guitar. It features an alder, Star shaped body, a neck-through maple neck with an ebony fretboard, cross inlays and reversed headstock. It includes an Original Floyd Rose bridge, Grover Tuners, a single EMG HZ H-2 bridge pickup with a single volume control.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
guitarist who currently plays with the bands Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom is a Finnish heavy metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho , Roope Latvala , Janne Wirman , Henkka Seppälä , and Jaska Raatikainen...
and Sinergy
Sinergy
Sinergy was a Finnish power metal band started in 1998 by American musician, Kimberly Goss. Aside from Sinergy, the most notable bands Goss has been involved with are Dimmu Borgir; as keyboardist, and Children of Bodom; where she filled in live for Janne Wirman and also contributed lyrics...
. He was one of the founding members of Stone
Stone (band)
Stone was a thrash metal band formed in Kerava, Finland in the mid-1980s. They released four albums and one live album during the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disbanding in 1991 to pursue different musical directions. Stone reunited to play a final set of concerts in 2000, but parted ways...
, which was one of the first notable bands in the history of Finnish heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
.
Biography
Roope was born in HelsinkiHelsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. At the age of 15, he founded the band Stone together with Janne Joutsenniemi. The band's style was initially focused on a more traditional heavy metal, but they soon shifted to a faster and more aggressive sound, which was the key for them to receive mass recognition. In the year of 1991, the band was dissolved, with a discography of four studio albums, one live album and one compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. He is the main influence of many Finnish guitarists, especially Alexi Laiho
Alexi Laiho
Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho is a Finnish singer, composer, and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead guitarist as well as lead vocalist for melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and he is also the guitarist for Sinergy and Kylähullut...
(from Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom is a Finnish heavy metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho , Roope Latvala , Janne Wirman , Henkka Seppälä , and Jaska Raatikainen...
).
After the breakup of Stone, he released an instrumental work with his brother, entitled Latvala bros. He then played with Dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
for around a year. In 1995 he joined Waltari
Waltari
Waltari is a band from Finland, known for its diversity and combination of music styles, frequently combining alternative metal, progressive metal, death metal, hard rock, heavy metal, hip hop, industrial, pop, punk, rap, symphonic metal, techno and thrash metal.Most of the band's music is written...
after guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö
Sami Yli-Sirniö
Sami Yli-Sirniö is a Finnish guitarist who plays rock and metal. He spent part of his life in Germany and thus has strong ties with the German metal scene...
left the band. They played together for 6 years before Roope decided to quit the band.
He joined Sinergy after vocalist Kimberly Goss
Kimberly Goss
Kimberly Goss is the vocalist and founding member of the Finnish band Sinergy.-Early life:She was born in Los Angeles to a Korean father and a German-American mother, who was a jazz singer...
moved from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to Finland and had to reassemble the band; he assumed the role that previously belonged to Jesper Strömblad
Jesper Strömblad
Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad is a Swedish musician who is currently the guitarist for the bands Dimension Zero & The Resistance...
(from In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
).
During the whole of his career, Roope had many side projects and played as a guest musician in many bands, the most notable of the being: Warmen
Warmen
Warmen is a Finnish metal band assembled by keyboard player Janne Viljami Wirman - also known as Warman. Janne has been playing with Children of Bodom since 1997, and on the year of 2000 created a musical project focused on instrumental work, which would only have guest singers on a few selected...
, Nomicon, Pornonorsu, Jailbreakers, Gloomy Grim, Amon Amarth, Children Of Bodom, and Soulgrind. At times he also composed movie soundtracks.
When Alexander Kuoppala
Alexander Kuoppala
Alexander Kuoppala is a Finnish musician. He was the rhythm guitarist from the Finnish heavy metal band Children of Bodom from 1995 to 2003. He played on their albums Something Wild, Hatebreeder, Follow the Reaper, and Hate Crew Deathroll...
left Children of Bodom in 2003 in the middle of their world tour, the members of the band were forced to search for a new guitarist in the time span of one month, when their next show would happen. The new guitarist needed to be able to learn about twenty songs to be played live. Alexi Laiho tried to recruit Kai Nergaard (from Griffin), but was unsuccessful. With little time left, Roope contacted Alexi and asked him if Children of Bodom needed any help on the tour. Alexi agreed that he would be a session player because he's the only guitarist he deemed skilled enough to manage the feat of learning the songs with enough accuracy to replace Alexander, who had been playing with the band for 10 years.
Roope played the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
concert on the 16th of August successfully. Despite the initial announcement that he would be a session player only, he remained with the band and recorded the Trashed, Lost & Strungout EP. He continued playing with the band and also recorded the hit LP "Are You Dead Yet?". He is now a permanent member of Children of Bodom. Roope played two guitar solos on the Children of Bodom album, "Are You Dead Yet?", despite the widely accepted notion that Alexi plays all solos on Bodom albums.
When he joined Children of Bodom, Roope made a deal with ESP Guitars
ESP Guitars
, located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
, which already endorsed Alexi and Henkka Seppälä
Henkka Seppälä
Henri Samuli Seppälä , better known as Henkka T. Blacksmith, is the bassist of the Finnish metal band Children of Bodom. Henkka is responsible for backing vocals both on studio and live....
. Before that he used Jackson Guitars
Jackson Guitars
__FORCETOC__Jackson is a renowned brand of electric guitar that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.-Early years:Grover Jackson obtained ownership in Charvel's Guitar Repair of Glendora, California in the 1970s with a promise to bolster Charvel's business...
almost exclusively (Roope could be seen wearing the infamous Jackson T-shirt that reads Get The Best, Fuck The Rest), and it is not unusual for him to use his old Jacksons live.
There were rumours which said that he would switch sides with Jesper Strömblad of the melodic death metal Band In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
, but he denied it saying that he had never heard anything about it, and added "I said that I like Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music....
and In Flames. But somebody misunderstood me and wrote silly things in a metal magazine. So we are together with my lovely friend Alexi Laiho and the whole crew."
Guitars
On the Latvala Bros. Myspace page, it states that Roope uses "metal plectrums." Roope plays his ESP custom Random Star on stage and in the studio, yet he still, on some occasions, uses his old Jackson RR's. These guitars have become highly famous among Finnish guitar players, and Roope was instrumental in cementing Jackson GuitarsJackson Guitars
__FORCETOC__Jackson is a renowned brand of electric guitar that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.-Early years:Grover Jackson obtained ownership in Charvel's Guitar Repair of Glendora, California in the 1970s with a promise to bolster Charvel's business...
as the best selling guitar brand in Finland.
ESP guitars released in early 2008 an LTD Roope Latvala signature guitar. It features an alder, Star shaped body, a neck-through maple neck with an ebony fretboard, cross inlays and reversed headstock. It includes an Original Floyd Rose bridge, Grover Tuners, a single EMG HZ H-2 bridge pickup with a single volume control.
External links
- Unofficial Roope Latvala Tribute Site - Contains brief biography, in-depth information on Roope's guitars and amplifiers, several photo galleries, discography, and a fan guestbook.