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 on June 25, 1970) is a talented guitarist from Finland. He helped start the thrash metal band Stone. This band was one of the first important heavy metal groups in Finland. Roope was also the lead guitarist for the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom from 2003 to 2015. He also played co-lead guitar for the band Sinergy.
Contents
Roope Latvala's Musical Journey
Roope Latvala was born in Helsinki, Finland. When he was just 15 years old, he started the band Stone with his friend Janne Joutsenniemi. At first, their music was more like traditional heavy metal. But soon, they changed to a faster and more energetic sound. This new style helped them become very popular.
Stone's Success and Breakup
Stone released four studio albums, one live album, and a collection of their songs. The band broke up in 1991. Many Finnish guitarists, especially Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, say that Roope was a big influence on their music.
Other Bands and Projects
After Stone, Roope worked on an instrumental album with his brother. It was called Latvala bros. He then played with a band called Dementia for about a year. In 1995, he joined Waltari after their guitarist left. He played with Waltari for six years before deciding to leave.
Later, Roope joined Sinergy. He became their guitarist when the singer, Kimberly Goss, moved to Finland and needed to form the band again.
Throughout his career, Roope Latvala also worked on many other projects. He played as a guest musician for several bands. Some of these included Warmen, Nomicon, To/Die/For, ...norsu, Jailbreakers, Gloomy Grim, Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom, and Soulgrind. He even helped create music for movies sometimes.
Joining Children of Bodom
In 2003, the guitarist for Children of Bodom, Alexander Kuoppala, left the band during their world tour. The band needed a new guitarist very quickly, in less than a month. They needed someone who could learn about twenty songs to play live.
Roope Latvala contacted Alexi Laiho, the leader of Children of Bodom, and offered to help. Alexi agreed because he thought Roope was skilled enough to learn all the songs quickly. Roope played his first concert with them in Moscow on August 16, and it went very well.
Even though he was supposed to be a temporary player, Roope stayed with Children of Bodom. He recorded the Trashed, Lost & Strungout EP with them. He also played on their popular album Are You Dead Yet?. Roope even played two guitar solos on Are You Dead Yet?, which was special because Alexi Laiho usually played all the solos.
Guitars and Endorsements
When Roope joined Children of Bodom, he started working with ESP Guitars. This company already supported Alexi Laiho and Henkka Seppälä from the band. Before that, Roope mostly used Jackson Guitars. He sometimes still used his old Jackson guitars when playing live.
Leaving Children of Bodom
In May 2015, Roope Latvala was no longer a member of Children of Bodom. The band recorded their album I Worship Chaos with only four members. Later, Daniel Freyberg became their new guitarist. Roope said he was fired just before they started recording the album. He felt very sad about it.
Roope's Guitars
Roope Latvala is known for his guitars. On his Latvala Bros. Myspace page, it says he uses "metal plectrums," which are special guitar picks.
He often plays his custom ESP Random Star guitar on stage and in the studio. However, he still sometimes uses his older Jackson RR guitars. These guitars became very famous among Finnish guitar players. Roope helped make Jackson Guitars the best-selling guitar brand in Finland.
Signature Guitar
In early 2008, ESP Guitars released an LTD Roope Latvala signature guitar. This means it was designed with his input. It had a unique star shape, a strong maple neck, and a smooth ebony fretboard. It also featured special cross inlays and a reversed headstock. The guitar included a Floyd Rose bridge, Grover Tuners, and a single EMG HZ H-2 pickup for sound. It had just one volume control. This signature guitar was stopped in North America in 2011, but ESP still makes a similar series in Japan.
See also
In Spanish: Roope Latvala para niños
