Sometimes when bands want to stretch out a bit and go a little crazy, they decide to put out a double album. Or a triple album. Or release two albums at the same time. Then we have Finish monster-rockers Lordi. They went completely off the rails and decided to release ten records at the same time. Their record-company probably wondered if they had gone completely mental and said no. Of course. Seven albums at the same time, however, was fine. That said, all albums will be released separately as well.
The idea behind this move came in the backwater of their last album Killection: A Fictional Compilation Album (2020), an album where the band schizophrenically mixed genres with each song to make it sound like, well a compilation album by different bands. So why not go all in and make a whole album with each genres on each album and release them all in one box, they thought. A killer idea thought everyone except for the record company as it financially is a complete nightmare to try to pull off a stunt like that especially in an age when few people buy records. I also wonder how on Earth someone can write so many songs in one batch without tampering with the quality. I mean it was only a year since Killection came out…
SPOOKY SEXTRAVAGANZA SPECTACULAR
Here Lordi takes a shot in unexplored territory – industrial Metal. After a long intro that sounds like a movie of a deranged redneck killer family going bananas, the band goes right into the single “Demon Supreme”, a direct kick-ass, industrial hard-rocker in the vein of Rob Zombie but also a nod to Alice Cooper’s Brutal Planet days – heavy, stompy, powerful and quite catchy. It’s followed by “Re-Animate”, a dark and heavy yet quite poppy number with a bulls-eye refrain is followed by the insanely hooky Industrial Metal meets American Arena Rock stomper “Lizzard Of Ozz with “Killusion” following on a path of synth-pop and electronica with only a sparse addition of rock-guitars with memorable melodies all over. Very good indeed.
“Skull And Bones” goes on a headbang mission blending Rob Zombie and Rammstein, “Goliath” throws in a some crowd-friendly “Hey” and 80’s Arena Rock vibes into the dark, heavy and aggressive outlooks, “Drekavic” holding a more 90’s vibe, quite riffy and poundy and “Terror Extra-Terrestrial” mixes synth-pop and metal, big and hard synths and ballsy riffage with some striking melodies that catches on. The Killection track is “Shake The Baby Silent” and the closing track is the uptempo, raw-edged “If It Ain’t Broken”, an upbeat and punchy rocker with an intense and effective chorus before it ends with the outtro “Anticlimax” – “This is how it ends people? Alticlimax!”.
While Lordi certainly gets away with going industrial Metal, it also stands clear that these guys just can’t write music without hooks or choruses that grabs a hold and at times it feels like they must throw in some pop-friendlky, late 80’s smelling melodies in the refrains because that’s what they do. That said, this is still aggressive, dark and hard-edged Metal and even though it seldom gets noisy, Ministry like, it’s still beats hard. The songs? Well, mostly really damn good but there’s also the odd filler too many.
6/10
1. SCG Minus 1: The Ruiz Ranch Massacre
2. Demon Supreme
3. Re-Animate
4. Lizzard Of Oz
5. Killusion
6. Skull And Bones (The Danger Zone)
7. Goliath
8. Drekavac
9. Terror Extra-Terrestrial
10. Shake The Baby Silent
11. If It Ain’t Broken (Must Break It)
12. Anticlimax
THE MASTERBEAST OF THE MOON
Here’s another left-turn in Lordi’s career. On this record they take the shape of a 70’s Rock band making a slightly progressive rock-opera – a challenge for a band like this, I guess. After an intro in the shape of a radio transmission from space, “Moonbeast” starts out orchestrated on an upbeat groove, early 70’s Alice Cooper inspired, big on keyboards with a a slight chunk of King Diamond thrown in. It’s followed by the 70’s prog-rock that is “Celestial Serpents”, a song that also throws in late 70’s AOR-isms, chunky riffage and striking melodies. “Hurricane Of The Slain” starts off as a piano-ballad but goes both orchestrated, contains big keyboards, acoustic guitars and holds a big soundscape which makes me think of a Broadway show or something – all in the name of 70’s prog.
“Spear Of The Romans” comes in mid pace, holds a good stomp and brings on both a harpsichord, keyboards and a chunky bass-line, “Bells Of The Netherworld” brings on an ominous and eerie atmosphere, more 70’s Alice Cooper vibes, lots of keys all over the foundation of 70’s Hard Rock while “Church Of Succubus” is an 11 minute, epic prog-stomper with ghostly sounds, a mountain of orchestration, time changes and clear influences from both The Coop and Pink Floyd, very big on direct melodies. We also get heavier passages, Sabbath-like twists and piano-passages. Great stuff.
“Robots Alive” takes a more straight-forward and plain Hard Rock route and “Yoh-Haee-Von” brings on slow-paced balladry with piano, flute and a choir. As a whole, this sure is a prog-rock-opera that I think holds up. Normally, to pull off a big project like this, you need to take your time so it’s quite impressive that they have pulled it off in such a short time. That said, it really couldn’t hold a candle to the great rock-operas of the world – The Who, Queensrÿche, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd – but it’s still worth a listen and while the horror-story manuscript might falter some, I really can’t find any bad songs on here. Enjoyable.
7/10
Tracklist:
1. SCG Minus 5: Transmission Request
2. Moonbeast
3. Celestial Serpents
4. Hurricane Of The Slain
5. Spear Of The Romans
6. Bells Of The Netherworld
7. Transmission Reply
8. Church Of Succubus
9. Soliloquy
10. Robots Alive!
11. Yoh-Haee-Von
12. Transmission On Repeat
CD & Festival reviews 