Roope Latvala facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roope Latvala
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Latvala with Children of Bodom in 2013
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roope Juhani Latvala |
| Born | 25 June 1970 Helsinki, Finland |
| Genres | Melodic death metal, thrash metal, power metal |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist |
| Years active | 1985–present |
Roope Juhani Latvala (born June 25, 1970) is a talented Finnish guitarist. He helped start the thrash metal band Stone. This band was one of the first important groups in Finnish heavy metal music. Roope also played rhythm guitar for the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 2003 to 2015. He was also a co-lead guitarist for Sinergy.
Roope's Early Life and Bands
Roope was born in Helsinki, Finland. When he was 15, he started the band Stone with Janne Joutsenniemi. Stone first played traditional heavy metal. But they soon changed to a faster, more powerful sound. This helped them become very popular. The band broke up in 1991. They had released four studio albums and other music. Many Finnish guitarists, like Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, look up to Roope.
After Stone broke up, Roope made instrumental music with his brother. This music was called Latvala bros. He then played with a band called Dementia for about a year. In 1995, he joined Waltari after their guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö left. Roope played with Waltari for six years before leaving the band.
He later joined Sinergy. This happened after the singer, Kimberly Goss, moved to Finland. She needed to form the band again. Roope took on the guitar role that used to belong to Jesper Strömblad. Roope also helped create music for movies sometimes.
Joining Children of Bodom
In 2003, the guitarist Alexander Kuoppala left Children of Bodom. This happened in the middle of their world tour. The band needed to find a new guitarist very quickly. They had only one month before their next show. The new guitarist had to learn about twenty songs for live performances.
Roope contacted Alexi Laiho, the leader of Children of Bodom. He asked if the band needed help on their tour. Alexi agreed that Roope could join as a temporary player. Alexi believed Roope was skilled enough to learn all the songs quickly. Roope played his first concert with the band in Moscow on August 16. He did very well.
Even though he was supposed to be a temporary player, Roope stayed with Children of Bodom. He recorded the Trashed, Lost & Strungout music. He also recorded the popular album Are You Dead Yet?. Roope played two guitar solos on Are You Dead Yet?. This was special because many people thought Alexi Laiho played all the solos on Children of Bodom albums.
When Roope joined Children of Bodom, he made a deal with ESP Guitars. This company already supported Alexi Laiho and Henkka Seppälä.
There were some rumors that Roope might switch bands with Jesper Strömblad from In Flames. But Roope said this was not true. He said he had never heard anything about it. He added that he liked Dark Tranquillity and In Flames, but someone misunderstood him. He said, "So we are together with my lovely friend Alexi Laiho and the whole crew."
In May 2015, Roope was no longer a member of Children of Bodom. The band recorded their album I Worship Chaos with only four members. Later, guitarist Daniel Freyberg joined the band. Roope said he was let go from Children of Bodom just before they started recording the album. He felt very surprised by this. The band later said that Roope was not fully committed to the group.
Roope's Guitars
Roope Latvala uses "metal plectrums" (guitar picks). He plays his custom ESP Random Star guitar on stage and in the studio. Sometimes, he still uses his older Jackson RR guitars. These guitars became very well-known among Finnish guitar players. Roope helped make Jackson Guitars the best-selling guitar brand in Finland.
In early 2008, ESP guitars released an LTD Roope Latvala signature guitar. This guitar has a special "Star" shape. It has a maple neck and an ebony fretboard. It also has cross-shaped inlays and a reversed headstock. The guitar includes a Floyd Rose bridge and Grover Tuners. It has one EMG HZ H-2 pickup and a single volume control. This signature guitar was stopped in North America in 2011. However, ESP still makes a Roope Latvala signature series in Japan.
See also
In Spanish: Roope Latvala para niños
