Children of Bodom spent a great deal of 2016 on the road in support of their ninth studio effort, 2015's I Worship Chaos. With the 20th anniversary of their Something Wild debut coming in 2017, the band will be reflecting on the past while maintaining focus on the future with a new album.

Drummer Jaska Raatikainen wrapped up his thoughts on the year with Bodom in an extensive Facebook post (seen below), expressing his gratitude for being in such a successful band for two decades. His thoughts were conflicted, however, as he cited his struggles with back pain.

"Even though so many great things happened to me this year it was still overshadowed by severe back pain that made me really frustrated and anxious," the skinsman began. "I needed pain killers to be able to perform a show and still wasn’t able to enjoy it. Sometimes it was just surviving through the set. The days I didn’t have pain and I could play normally were rare. Those shows I played like it could be my last show and just couldn’t help thinking that this great thing what I was doing on stage could end any day."

Raatikainen even mentioned how this pain caused concern for his future as a touring musician. "Being a drummer with a body that is a total wreck is probably the worst combo," he said. "All the flying and suffering from sleep deprivation was just too rough for me. It really made me think if this all work is worth the pain. Though, I don’t give up very easily when it comes to what I love the most."

Bodom will be celebrating their debut album, still unsure if they'll be performing Something Wild in its entirety or just selecting rarely played songs for the occasion, but it's looking more and more like the latter. Raatikainen detailed, "The set will include some rarities and also some songs we have never played live," adding, "We really have to dig deeper to the first two albums and try to figure out what exactly was the thing each of us wanted to express with our music."

As for new music, the drummer also offered, "We will start creating new songs during spring and summer, and will head to the studio during fall. The album will be our 10th studio album, which is also quite a milestone. It seems that after the studio I will have some time to get my back better somehow, possibly an operation if all the other options have been tried out."

See the full statement below:

Children of Bodom have a European tour starting on March 8 and all tour dates can be found at the band's Facebook page. Earlier this year, the Fins recruited guitarist Daniel Freyberg as Roope Latvala's replacement and Raatikainen confirmed the axeman will remain with the band.

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