History & Biography Lordi was born in Tornio, Finland as early as 1991 by Mr. Lordi himself who had moved to that fine city to study. The theatrical group was inspired by Kiss (the founder rumour has it was in charge of Kiss’ Finnish fan club), Gwar and others both musically and image-wise and clearly derives its popularity from its elaborate ‘monster’ customs without which it will not be photographed. Several European tabloids have photographed the band without customs, although in one stint the magazine mistakenly depicted Children Of Bodom instead! The band really began its terror in 1996, but Lordi’s big break came in 2006 when it surprised many by winning the Eurovision contest in Athens, Greece. The winning number Hard Rock Hallelujah soon became a European anthem. Shortly after winning the contest, Lordi gave a concert at Market Square in Helsinki where an approximate 90,000 bandwagon and regular fans sang Hard Rock Hallelujah thus earning the band the world record for largest sing-along ever.
The band, which now dwells in Espoo, Finland, was a hit from the start when in 2002 its debut single Would You Love A Monsterman? went number one on the Finnish charts.
The group’s success brought a management deal with Bill Aucoin who in the ‘70s managed Kiss. Several DVD s followed The Arockalypse which was soon licensed by The End Records for America. The album featured guest appearances by former Kiss man Bruce Kulick, Udo Dirkschneider and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider. The band soon played shows in Europe, Far East and the USA including Ozzfest. The said videos included The Market Square Massacre and Bringing Back The Balls To Stockholm: The Opening Night. The band picked Deadache as the title for its fourth album, which was released in October of 2008 through The End Records for North America. Lizzy Borden and Lordi announced a tour of the US for November 2008. The latter band was supporting its Deadache album. The band began 2009 with a tour of Europe with Fatal Smile in tow. Lordi would release its fifth studio album on September 14th 2010 through The End Records. The new album was entitled Babez For Breakfast. Lordi keyboardist Awa announced her decision to leave the group in the middle of 2012. She would perform with the band for the last time on August 11th at Simerock in Finland where Lordi celebrated its 10-year anniversary. The band would release its next album, To Beast Or Not To Beast, on March 8th through AFM Records. The album was out on March 19th through The End Records for the USA. Lordi would release its next album, Scare Force One, on October 31st, 2014 through AFM. Monsterman was a 2015 Finnish documentary by director Antti Haase, which narrated the story of Lordi and winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. The film would receive its international premiere on Saturday, May 9th 2015 at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, Canada. Lordi picked Monstereophonic: Theaterror Vs. Demonarchy as the title for its next album, which was due on September 16th 2016 through AFM Records. The group released a new album, called Sexorcism, through AFM on May 25th. Bassist Ox announced he would leave the rockers following 2019’s festival appearances. Lordi released a video, called Recordead Live - Sextourcism In Z7, on DVD, vinyl and digipack through AFM Records this month. Lordi released a new faux compilation album, entitled Killection, through AFM Records in January 2020. Guitarist Amen-Ra released his first solo single, Stone And Stars, in late 2019. The solo act was called Amen-Ra's Dynasty. The act was releasing 7 new digital albums as part of the Lordiversity concept in the autumn of 2021. They were also available as a box set called Lordiversity. These albums would follow the compilation of supposedly 1970s to 1990s' songs the band issued the year before.
Lordi's founding guitarist Amen quit the band in 2022. He would continue with his solo act Amen-RA. The band replaced the departed guitarist Amen with Kone. The band appeared at the Rock In The City festival in Kuopio, Finland on June 10th. Sabaton announced a European leg of The Tour To End All Tours for April and May 2023 with Babymetal and Lordi in tow. The act signed a deal with Atomic Fire Records in late 2022. The band had a new record in the spring of 2023. Lordi had a new version of its Eurovision Song Contest winner, Hard Rock Hallelujah, to end 2022. This version featured German musician, comedian and entertainer Bürger Lars Dietrich. Lordi announced the Unliving Pictour Show spring 2024 European tour. Lordi was touring Europe all spring. The quintet was supported by All For Metal and Supreme Unbeing at select concerts.
Reviews LORDI - THE AROCKALYPSE - THE END 
To say that Lordi’s music is contrived and affected is like saying a shotgun toting hick from Florida in a truck is a white trash. Pompous and partying like its 1977, the Finnish pack that actually managed to win last year’s Eurovision Contest (a kind of European pop music contest where different countries manage to out-embarrass each other publicly on purpose), look like the bastard children of Kiss and Gwar and is not coincidentally managed by the famed former Kiss manager Bill Aucoin. Nonetheless, designed from the start to be a hit the band has recruited Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider, Kiss’ Bruce Kulick and Udo Dirkschneider and delivers on its exaggerated image via songs that sound like AOR, hard rock, pop and so forth. Hit singles flow down the band’s fiery codpieces - all with a refined Finnish accent - as the band takes dead-aim at fans of Kiss, Alice Cooper, Survivor, Aldo Nova and Boney M. What a package!
It is impossible to take this seriously (unless you are the holder of a number of Gwar patents, in which case you are going to court - especially after Lordi claimed not to have ever heard of Gwar!) but as a gimmicky and fun act designed from the ground up for merchandising the performers of songs like Evilove, SuperMonstars, The Night Of The Loving Dead and Bring Back The Balls To Rock are a super fun act. In other words, Suffocation fans will probably not warm up to this! Now, where did I leave my Lordi lunchbox? - Ali “The Metallian”
Interviews
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