Henri "Henkka T. Blacksmith" Seppälä (Born 7 June 1980), is the former bassist of the Finnish metal band Children of Bodom from 1995 to 2019. He is also responsible for backing vocals both in studio and live. He is currently the bassist for the project called Moon Shot. Henkka is a very common nickname for Henri and ''seppä'' means ''blacksmith'' in English. The reason he has a ''T.'' in the middle of his name is his nickname being Torso.

Biography

Seppälä was born in 1980 in Espoo, Finland. He first started playing guitar at the age of eleven. He got into the heavy metal scene through his brother, who listened to bands such as

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

and

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with his friends. Before that, he had only had contact with glam metal/hard rock bands such as

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

and

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. As time passed, his interest started leaning towards heavier bands, until in the early 1990s he discovered

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and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

bands of the likes of

Burzum Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

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and

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

. He played drums in his first band at the age of 13. The band was called ''Aivokasvain'' (Brain Tumour). He was part of the band for two years, and then quit, switching his main instrument to the bass. When Samuli Miettinen quit ''Inearthed'' (the original name of Children of Bodom) in 1996, Seppälä joined the band, (asked by lead guitarist and singer, Alexi Laiho) he then adopted the 5-string bass. He is the frontman of the band when it comes to interviews and public appearances. Other than the fact that he can speak Russian, Finnish, English, Swedish and some Spanish and French, he is also the most equilibrated member of the band, in a general way. He studies development studies and political history at the '' University of Helsinki'' when he has time, which is not too often. He is also into sports, and has a passion for (European) football. However, he also enjoys swimming. Musically, Seppälä was completely dedicated to Children of Bodom, and was the only member who did not have any side-projects. According to him, the most important things in his life are his family and his band at the time.

Influences

On the Children of Bodom official website, Seppälä lists his influences as Tom Araya, Billy Gould,

Steve Brunner Stephen Lee Bruner (born October 19, 1984), better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American bass guitarist, singer, producer, and songwriter from Los Angeles. First coming to prominence as a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Te ...

, Paulo Jr, Joe Principe and David Ellefson.

Equipment

* ESP Henkka T. Blacksmith Forest Signature Bass,4 string (34" neckthru body alder, EMG 35DC) * ESP Henkka T. Blacksmith Bottom Line Signature Bass,5 string ( 34" neckthru body alder, EMG 40DC pickups) * ESP Custom Shop "Assault" shaped (34" neckthru body alder, EMG 40DC pickups) * ESP Custom Shop Viper Bass, same specs as his other basses, and can be seen on their live DVD Chaos Ridden Years (tuned CGCF) * ESP Custom Shop Araya Shape (White with COBHC logo on fretboard, seen on the 2009 No Fear Tour) Amp is an Ampeg SVT3pro and cabinet Ampeg 810. He boost his sound with a Super Overdrive pedal or Tech21 Sansamp pre amp
Audiotech Guitar Products Source Selector 1X6 Rack Mount Audio Switcher
for switching between wireless units.

Notable Licks

*"Black Widow" at 2:34. *"Bodom Beach Terror" at 2:47. *"Hate Me!" at 2:03. *"Downfall" at 1:36. *"Angels Don't Kill" at 4:04.

References

* "Fourteeng.net

External links

Interview with HenkkaInterview with Henkka at NZRock.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seppala, Henkka Finnish heavy metal bass guitarists Children of Bodom members People from Espoo Living people 1980 births 21st-century bass guitarists