LORDI: To Beast Or Not To Beast (MELODIC METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

While "Babez For Breakfast" saw Lordi plunge with talent into the 80s, the flood of criticism, mostly unfair, continued to fall on the Finns, victims of a bashing now fashionable in the media. And as if that wasn't enough, our monsters had to undergo cruel line-up changes. First, Kita had to be replaced by Otus (ex To/Die/For and Synergy), the drummer having broken the band's internal rule by showing his face in another band. Even sadder, his replacement passed away in February 2012. Finally, keyboardist Awa decided to leave the band in July of the same year for personal reasons.

If the beast is wounded, however, it is not dead. The opus opens the hostilities with a most unexpected blast-beat which launches an aggressive, biting "We're Not Bad For The Kids (We're Worse)", a kind of modern speed metal with jerky breaks and a unifying chorus. The backing vocals are often warlike ("I Luv Ugly") and impose themselves as one of the strong points of this new opus on which the Rovianemi quintet also amazes with their unexpected experiments, venturing into the lands of a Metal-Indus that Rammstein wouldn't deny (the single "The Riff"), getting hyper Heavy by shoving Manowar for the time of a "Something Wicked This Way Comes" whose finale sets up an agonizing atmosphere with its sub-mixed solos behind a repetitive and bellicose rhythmic, or swinging a big riff at the borders of power, speed and metal, for the time of a scathing and humorous "I'm The Best". And what about the Fuck you assholes! that Mr. Lordi pours in the face of his detractors on "Sincerely With Love"?

"To Beast Or Not To Beast" is a perfect balance between risk-taking and more classic titles ("Horrifiction", "Schizo Doll"). Moreover, Michael Wagener's production, both modern and powerful, will have allowed the newcomers to integrate. Special mention to Hella whose keyboards are masterfully imposing, supporting the power of the riffs and bringing a plus to the creation of atmospheres all more agonizing than the others. Varied and coherent, surprising without being disconcerting, there is a strong bet that this new opus allows Lordi to silence gossips and to find his place in the pantheon of the leading formations of the Heavy-Metal landscape.

Note that the last track, "SCG6 Otus Butcher Clinic", which starts like most of the intros or outros of the previous albums but leads to a live solo at a Parisian concert, is a tribute to the deceased former drummer. - Official website

LORDI

TO BEAST OR NOT TO BEAST

SONY BMG

MELODIC METAL