Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM are hard at work at an undisclosed location in Helsinki recording ten new tracks which will comprise the band's eighth album.

"It's a nice change to the regular method where we lock ourselves up at a studio in the middle of the woods, usually also during the darkest time of the year," CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho tells Soundi magazine. "However, we did track drums at the tried-and-tested Petrax studio in Hollola this time as well, so we got our fix of that modus operandi too. But for the guitar and bass, we don't require a big facility in the countryside, so we decided to stay closer to home for this part of the session."

Laiho is finishing up the lyrics for the songs so that they are ready when phase 3 kicks in at the beginning of February. Swedish producer Peter Tägtgren (PAIN, HYPOCRISY) will then travel over for a period of ten days to oversee the keyboard and vocal recordings.

"It will be great to have Peter come over for a good stretch this time so we can really concentrate on the vocals," Alexi says. "At the moment, I'm done with the lyrics for two tracks: 'All Twisted' and 'Slowdance On Nails'. So far all the other tunes go by working titles such as 'Moto GP', 'FC Pettymys', 'Kananmuisti-ilmiö' and 'Trondheim'."

In an in-depth interview with Soundi last September, CHILDREN OF BODOM guitarist Roope Latvala expressed interest in taking a more prominent role in the arranging of the band material.

"In my opinion many guitar parts could be made more interesting and balanced with just minor tweaks," Roope said, perhaps inspired by his recent work with Finn composer Anssi Tikanmäki's national anthem album project.

Has this comment led to Alexi giving the former STONE axeman more leeway and responsibility in the fine-tuning of the songwriting process?

"Now that you mention it, Roope did voice his opinions more than usual this time around," Alexi says. "And maybe the others, too. As far as the actual question goes, the usual rule applies: all good ideas are taken into consideration."

The new CHILDREN OF BODOM album may also feature a special guest appearance, as Alexi reveals exclusively to Soundi, where he was once again named "Musician Of The Year" in the annual readers' poll.

"I played on ANNIHILATOR's album 'Metal' in 2007, so the way I see it, [ANNIHILATOR mainman] Jeff Waters owes BODOM a solo or two! It's payback time."

And finally, CHILDREN OF BODOM wouldn't be CHILDREN OF BODOM without some new off-the-wall cover tracks recorded during the sessions for later use as bonus tracks for the as-of-yet untitled disc, due out before the summer.

"We will be doing our versions of songs by BANANARAMA and ROXETTE, and a track chosen for us by the readers of the Japanese magazine Burrn!" Alexi says.