Musical life
His first instrument was the piano, and during most of his childhood also played the French horn in a big band – a fact which later led him to be introduced to Alexander Kuoppala. It was only at the age of 12 that he began playing drums; he had his first double bass pedals before he owned a drum kit. He was inspired by musicians such as Scott Travis (from Judas Priest) and Mikkey Dee (from Motörhead).
Children of Bodom
When Raatikainen met Alexi Laiho at school in the year of 1993, they realised that they had similar ideas and musical taste. Thus, they began playing together and idealizing their band Inearthed which would one day become Children of Bodom. The band released their first demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission, which he contributed some keyboards. Jaska played a vital role in the formation of the band, since he was the one who brought both Alexander Kuoppala and Janne Wirman to their line-up. Jaska also provided backing vocals on the songs "Warheart", "Black Widow", and "Children of Bodom" from his band's album, Hatebreeder.
Other musical ventures
He has also helped quite a few bands when they needed a competent drummer. During Sinergy's 2000 European tour, he replaced Tommi Lillman, who had injured his leg. The problem, however, was that this happened three days before the start of the tour, which meant that Raatikainen had to quickly learn how to play ten of Sinergy's songs. Despite the high degree of difficulty, he managed to perform very well, and fans of both bands enjoyed seeing both Raatikainen and Laiho on stage together with Sinergy. On the Suicide by My Side album's booklet, the band wrote a dedicatory to Raatikainen for, on to their own words, "saving [their] tour".
Raatikainen has also played in Virtuocity and Evemaster albums, but since those are both studio bands, he does not have to worry greatly about Children of Bodom's tour schedule, which already has to be calculated ahead to some extent, due to Laiho's previously active participation in Sinergy.
On the 2002 tribute to Chuck Schuldiner – mastermind of one of the most notable death metal bands of all time, Death – Raatikainen, who is a fan of the band, played a couple of cover songs with Norther. A year later, Raatikainen formed a side project with Norther's guitarist Kristian Ranta entitled Gashouse Garden, which has not yet been signed to any recording label.
Up to the recording of the album Hatebreeder, Raatikainen was endorsed by Sonor drums and by Sabian cymbals. He eventually lost the deal with Sonor and for some time played with different drumsets, until settling with Pearl drums in 2003. His drumsticks are custom Millennium II sticks from Promark with his name engraved on them.
Pearl Reference Redline – Piano Black with Black Chrome Hardware
8"x8" Tom Tom
10"x8" Tom Tom
12"x9" Tom Tom
14"x12" Floor Tom
16"x16" Floor Tom
22"x18" Bass Drum x 2
14"x5" Snare
Cymbals
14" Meinl Byzance Traditional Heavy Hi-Hat x2 (both sides)
20" Meinl Mb20 Heavy Ride (left)
8" Meinl Byzance Traditional Splash x2
18" Byzance Brilliant Medium Thin Crash x2
20" Meinl Byzance Traditional Heavy Ride (right)
20" Byzance Brilliant Medium Crash
18" Byzance Brilliant China
Pearl Hardware
DR-503 Icon Rack + PCX-100 and PCX-200 Rack Clamps
H-2000 Eliminator Hi-hat Stand
Pearl Demon Drive Double Pedal
CLH-1000 Closed Hat
S-2000 Snare drum stand
CH-1000 Cymbal Holders
TH-100S Tom Holders
D-220 Roadster Throne
Sticks
Promark Evelyn Glennie 740 drumsticks
Sinergy was a Finnish heavy metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömblad of In Flames whilst on tour in 1997.
Something Wild is the debut full-length album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released in 1997 in Finland, and in 1998 worldwide. Upon release, the album was met with universal acclaim by music critics. In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997 by Metal Hammer magazine.
Hatebreeder is the second studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Children of Bodom. The "Deluxe Edition" was released in 2005 with bonus material. It was also re-released in 2008.
Alexi Laiho was a Finnish guitarist, composer, and vocalist. He was best known as the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and founding member of the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and was also the guitarist for Sinergy, The Local Band, Kylähullut, and Bodom After Midnight, which formed just prior to his death. Laiho had previously played with Thy Serpent and Impaled Nazarene on occasion, as well as Warmen and Hypocrisy.
Roope Juhani Latvala is a Finnish guitarist, best known as the former rhythm guitarist for the band Children of Bodom from 2003 to 2015 and the co-lead electric guitarist for Sinergy. He was also one of the founding members of Stone, which was one of the first notable bands in the history of Finnish heavy metal.
Alexander Kuoppala is a Finnish musician. He was the rhythm guitarist for 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. He also plays on the Timo Rautiainen album Sarvivuori.
Janne Viljami "Warman" Wirman is a Finnish musician; he is the former keyboardist for the Finnish metal band Children of Bodom from 1997 to 2019 and currently collaborating with Warmen.
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Derek Roddy is an American drummer and snake breeder, originally from Deerfield Beach, Florida. His ability to record entire drum tracks in one or two takes earned him the nickname "One Take".
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Children of Bodom was a melodic death metal band from Espoo, Finland. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho, Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Seppälä, Janne Wirman (keyboards), and Daniel Freyberg. The band released ten studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, two compilation albums and one DVD.
Skeletons in the Closet is the first compilation cover album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released on 22 September 2009 through Spinefarm Records. The album only contains four unreleased covers for the songs "Hell Is for Children", "Antisocial", "War Inside My Head", and "Waiting", but the previously released songs are remixed and new details can be heard. The Japanese edition is pressed in SHM-CD format.
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