# Kissing the Shadows guitar solo

> Alexi Laiho's guitar solo on Kissing the Shadows by Children of Bodom (2000) starts at about 2:43. From the album Follow the Reaper.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/song/children-of-bodom-kissing-the-shadows/>

Children of Bodom, 2000, from *Follow the Reaper*. Solo by *Alexi Laiho*.

Alexi Laiho and keyboardist Janne Wirman trade neoclassical leads, a model for melodic death-metal shred.

Kissing the Shadows shows Children of Bodom's signature trick: guitar and keyboard sparring like two soloists in a baroque concerto played at death-metal volume. Alexi Laiho rips through fast, neoclassical runs, sweep-picked arpeggios and sharp harmonic-minor phrases, then Janne Wirman answers on keyboards in the same language. The exchange is tight and competitive, and the pair often lock into harmony before splitting off again. This melding of shred, classical flavour and extreme metal influenced a wave of melodic death-metal bands. Listen for the moments where guitar and keyboard trade short phrases back and forth, each one echoing and extending the last, until they finally come together in unison.

Kissing the Shadows by Children of Bodom is ranked #493 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Alexi Laiho and the song was released in 2000.

## In our lists

- [The Greatest Solo of Every Year](https://greatestsolos.com/list/solo-of-every-year/) — #57
- [The 25 Greatest Shred Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/shred/) — #25
- [The 2000s](https://greatestsolos.com/list/2000s/) — #25
- [The Best Children of Bodom Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/children-of-bodom-guitar-solos/) — #14
- [Top 20 Guitar Solos of 2000](https://greatestsolos.com/list/best-guitar-solos-2000/) — #2

## Sources

- [Thomann: 25 Iconic Guitar Solos](https://www.thomannmusic.com/blog/inspire/25-iconic-guitar-solos/)

### Who played the guitar solo on Kissing the Shadows?

Alexi Laiho played the solo on Children of Bodom's Kissing the Shadows (2000).

### Where does Kissing the Shadows rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#493 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 1 of them.

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