Lordi without masks. Lordi - Finnish hard rock band

Lordi is a Finnish hard rock band. Her songs are remembered by fans for their mystical, in some ways even fatal, lyrics. The team's performances and videos are always spectacular, but it is simply impossible to see Lordi members in them without masks and costumes. Let's talk about the group, its history and its extraordinary affinity for the macabre. We will not ignore the enchanting performance of “Lordi” at Eurovision in 2006.

Start. Why did the suits appear?

The team was founded by Tomi Putaansuu. He was a big fan and chairman of their fan club in Finland. In addition, Putaansuu was a musician himself, and had an irresistible attraction to hard rock. Therefore, the new rock band he created had to play precisely in this style, and the costumes and makeup should act as a tribute from a devoted fan to the creativity and stage images of Kiss. In addition, all members of the team assembled by Putaansuu, in the manner of members of the Kiss group, took pseudonyms for themselves. The frontman and founder himself called himself Mr. Lordi.

It is interesting that at the beginning the creative success of the group was small. The first planned album was never released because the label went bankrupt a few days before its release, and all the accumulated material remained unreleased. The turning point for the creativity of the Finnish team was that at Nightwish concerts in Germany they were invited to warm up the audience, “Lordi”. The rock band performed well then. And they were noticed.

Lordi's triumph: Eurovision (2006)

In 2006, all rock music fans rejoiced: Lordi took first place in the prestigious Eurovision contest and by a large margin (by the way, a record in the entire history of the music competition) ahead of their closest rival Dima Bilan. That's when the whole world learned what real hard rock is!

The performance, again, was bright and spectacular. The musicians performed their anthem to hard rock in costumes and makeup of terrible monsters, and everything was accompanied by a pyrotechnic show. The backing vocals were then performed by the Finnish power metal musician Pasi Rantanen, wearing the mask of Gene Simmons, the bass player of the band Kiss.

Lordi's victory at Eurovision was devastating and enchanting. And its significance for the entire rock movement is very great.

After the competition

The triumph at Eurovision did its job: not only devoted fans of rock music learned about the “terrible monsters,” but also people who prefer lighter melodies. Of course, the latter were very interested in the image of the Finnish team. He was admired and criticized, and even opinions were expressed that “Lordi” won almost entirely thanks to the costumes. But one can argue with such sayings, because a bad Eurovision participant is one who does not try to turn his performance into a harmonious and exciting show.

The song Hallelujah almost immediately turned into a vibrant music video. And not even one, but two. Yes, yes, two different video clips were shot for this composition. And in none of them did the Lordi group appear without masks.

Performances without costumes or makeup

They simply weren't there. At concerts, press conferences and in television programs about themselves, Lordi does not appear without masks. This is the position of the team members, and the media are forced to accept it. However, one German weekly managed to catch the leader of the group, Mr. Lordi, in everyday life without a mask and reveal his face. These photographs were republished by the tabloid Build. Such unceremoniousness outraged fans of the Finnish “monsters”; they began collecting signatures for a petition demanding that the photos be removed from public access.

The members of the Lordi group themselves also reacted negatively to the publications. They sued the German tabloids, but the results of the publication process were not reported in the same “Bild”.

"Lordie" or...

In the same 2006, the Daily Mail newspaper was also subjected to the media frenzy of searching for photographs of Finnish monsters without their masks. On its pages and on the Internet website a photograph was published in which supposedly members of the group “Lordi” stood in a row without their terrible masks and costumes.

The team members themselves did not react to this publication in any way. And they had a reason for this. The thing is that in the photo that spread around the world it was not them, but members of another famous melodic metal band Children of Bodom. This was confirmed on the official website of the latter, so another publication of the scandalous photos of “Lordi” simply did not succeed, and the sensation that time did not work out.

"Lordi" and the President of Finland

After their triumphant victory at Eurovision, Lordi were invited to Tarja Halonen's official dinner party. The only condition was the absence of monster costumes and these terrible masks. In fact, the members of the famous rock band had to choose between preserving their image and the possibility of a visit to the president. What do you think the musicians did?

Yes, they chose to preserve their image and refused the invitation. And fans were again unable to see Lordi without masks. Then Mr. Lordi commented on the group's action as follows: “We are musicians, we make music. However, we only appear in masks. But costumes have no effect on the quality of our songs, do they? Then why should anyone care what’s under our masks?”

Monsters on dark floors

In 2008, the horror film “The Dark Floor” was released, directed by Pete Riski at a Finnish film studio. Why are we talking about this film? It’s just that members of the group “Lordi” starred in it.

The plot of the film is as follows. A little girl suffering from autism is in a clinic where they are trying to treat her without success. The baby's father, already despairing of seeing any improvement, decides to take his daughter out of the hospital. But they are unable to get out of there: the clinic is occupied by monsters - evil dark entities who are out hunting for unfortunate patients. The main character and her father, along with other people, find themselves locked in an elevator, and only she, that same little girl with autism, can save everyone.

You probably already guessed that the roles of dark entities, bloodthirsty and terrible, were performed by members of the group “Lordi”. It should be noted that they already had similar acting experience: in 2004, the team starred in the short Finnish horror film Blood Relationship. And, of course, in both cases there was makeup and costumes.

And more about the costumes

As mentioned above, the unusual outfits and makeup of the group members appeared under the influence of another famous rock band, Kiss. In addition, Mr. Lordi’s favorite horror films also inspire him to bring many of his ideas to life.

All monster masks and costumes are made from latex foam, fabric, leather and metal. They are always made by Mister Lordi himself. He is a professional sculptor, and on top of that, he is also a makeup artist, so he undoubtedly has all the necessary knowledge and skills.

The band members apply their own makeup to each other before performances. It usually takes about an hour to completely transform the entire team. For each concert performance, video clip or presentation of a new album, Mr. Lordi prepares new costumes and designs images for the band members. The approximate cost of any of these monster costumes is relatively small - only a few hundred euros.

And yet, is it possible to see “Lordi” without makeup?

Images of monsters, monsters from horror films are an integral part of the image of the group members. They always appear in public in their suits and claim that they would not be comfortable revealing their faces in front of the cameras. "Lordi", however, have already given interviews without masks. But at the same time, the group members turned their backs to the cameras and did not speak their native Finnish language. They spoke in English.

Well, perhaps someday fans will have the opportunity to see their idols without masks and the accompanying monster attire. But, most likely, such a transformation will not happen very soon. For example, when a famous group decides to leave the stage for good and comes up with something enchanting and intriguing. However, this may not happen. And then the secret of “Lordi” will forever remain inviolable.

The Russians caught the group Lordi without masks and makeup

You cannot photograph artists without masks and special makeup! - with these words the representative of the newly minted stars, winners of the last Eurovision, greeted us.

These are cute horror stories from Finland, who in an unimaginable way managed to beat our Dima Bilan - the group Lordi.

The Finnish guys, like the Scorpions group, were invited to participate in a Moscow concert on Vasilievsky Spusk, timed to coincide with the G8 summit, which is due to begin the other day in St. Petersburg.

On this occasion, both Lordi and the Scorpions, together with the service staff, as well as numerous domestic minions, totaling more than 20 people, planned to feed the oriental cuisine restaurant "TAN" for free: the capital's tavern was honored to treat overseas guests.

MK reporters were also invited to the restaurant, although they were seated not at the same table with the newly minted stars, but nearby, in the basement near the toilet.

You can't take pictures of artists without makeup! - once again, like an alarm bell, the warning of the Finnish administrator sounded in purely English.

But why?! - we were indignant.

Forbidden by contract! - came the laconic answer.

And it would be strange if it happened differently. Just recently, Finnish President Tarja Halonen invited Lordi to a gala dinner on the occasion of their victory. Her only condition was to come without masks. Alas, a contract is a contract! And the Finnish guys had to reject such an offer!

Will the Scorpions come? - While waiting in the restaurant, the reporter asked the organizers.

The technical staff is already here. The rest will arrive only at 23.00. They obviously won’t come here - you know, they’ll be tired from the journey.

And the hot Finnish guys were not tired - they rushed over and immediately began to eat lobster with ginger and herbs, squid rolls with duck egg, shrimp in an exotic seafood sauce and washed down all these goodies with chardanay and unfiltered beer! They didn’t suppress our national drink - they were afraid. They are said to have been warned: vodka in the heat is a terrible force. For dessert, the Finnish “freaks,” as they once called themselves, were served the restaurant's signature dish - Chinese pancakes in caramel.

And then the Moskovsky Komsomolets reporters were suddenly asked... to wait for the Scorps to arrive. According to the new version of the organizers, they were already in Moscow, and cars with flashing lights and a police convoy were sent for them to deliver them to the restaurant. “But it is unknown exactly when they will arrive. You understand, there are traffic jams,” the organizers commented on their own legend. I immediately remembered the last visit of the Scorpov leader to Moscow and his unexpected appearance in Metelitsa at the presentation of a video by Diana Gurtskaya and Sergei Kovalev, accompanied by unpleasant swearing at the press.

The organizers also offered to be accredited for the concert and sound check, where it would be possible to photograph the performers, at least on stage. But the reporters immediately found out that there would be only one paparazzi on their side at the concert, who would take photographs and then distribute the pictures. “The artists don’t want to make money from them! It’s better to just come to the concert - watch and listen,” explained the organizers.

And the reporters were incredibly lucky: we managed to film our overseas guests with a hidden camera! No masks! No makeup! And at that second we felt like real special agents of competing intelligence services, who, having done their dirty deed, left through the kitchen, then along the roofs, shooting back as they went.

And Lordi!.. They are very cute! Sometimes nice, sometimes not so much: young guys 30-35 years old. Two are completely bald, with goatees, wearing T-shirts with the band's logo; one is a dyed blond with a bald spot on his head, and the youngest member of the group, whom the organizers first introduced as “the only girl in the team,” then as a translator, and then as the male lead singer of the group Lordi. The mustacheless and beardless young man with an earring in his ear was indeed very cute, although his gender caused an ambiguous reaction: he was attracted to a girl with great difficulty!

As for the only representative of the weak half of humanity in the group of Finnish “freaks,” none of the organizers even knew what she looked like! To avoid getting into trouble, everyone agreed on the answer: “she’s not here.” And God be with her! We saw that Finnish horror stories are the same as you and me: two arms, two legs, a head, no ugly formations on the face. Well, they don’t want to be photographed without makeup... This is understandable: who are they without makeup?! Just people. And in the makeup - the “freaks” who so surprised and even somewhat shocked well-fed Europe.

Beginning (1992—2002)

Tomi Putaansuu, musician and chairman of the fan club of the hard rock band Kiss, decided, inspired by his idols, to create a musical group. He came up with the concept of Lordi in 1992, and in 1993 he recorded a solo demo album, Napalm Market, which was never released. In 1996-1997, the first line-up of the group was formed: Mr. Lordi (vocals), Amen (guitar), G-Stealer (bass) and Enary (keyboards). Following the example of Kiss, all members of the new group took pseudonyms, and the first stage costumes were developed. Putaansuu himself became known as Mister Lordi.

Their debut album Bend Over and Pray the Lord was supposed to be released in 1997, but the release did not take place because their label went bust shortly before the album's scheduled release date. After the recording, G-Stealer left the band, and Magnum became the band's new bassist, and in 2000, Kita became the band's first drummer.

Get Heavy (2002-2003)

The debut album Get Heavy was released in 2002 on Halloween night - November 1st. The album cover is based on Love Gun by Kiss. The album's lyrics were dedicated to "horror films" - monsters, vampires, demons, as well as praise to rock music. The songs "Devil is a Loser" and "Would You Love a Monsterman?" This album became the group's first hits. They were released as singles and videos were shot for them. Get Heavy won the Emma Galla 2003 competition for best metal album of the year in Finland. After recording the album, the band members asked Magnum to leave the band; the reason for his dismissal was his low level of playing the bass guitar; Kalma became the third bassist.

Lordi's first concert was held on December 8, 2002 in Helsinki; a video of the concert was released on DVD on the compilation Scarchives vol. 1 in 2012. In April 2003, the group held the "Wacken Road Show" tour. At concerts in Germany, Lordi performed as an opening act for Nightwish. The band's fame increased, which helped the band sign a contract with the German record company Drakkar.

The Monsterican Dream (2004-2005)

Lordi began to be promoted by the famous producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, who had previously worked with the groups HIM, Amorphis and Sentenced. Under his leadership, the album The Monsterican Dream was released, which had a heavier sound than the previous one and contained darker themes in the lyrics. The songs “My Heaven Is Your Hell” and “Blood Red Sandman” were released as singles; the latter became one of the group’s most popular songs and was performed at all Lordi concerts from that moment on. However, the album was less of a commercial success than Get Heavy. Wearing new costumes, the group starred in the short film "The Kin", which was released on DVD as a special edition of the album. In 2005, the band compiled the best songs from their first two albums into a compilation album, The Monster Show, for sale in the UK. After this, the group underwent further lineup changes: new keyboard player Awa and bassist OX arrived, who replaced Kalma a few days before the group was invited to Eurovision.

Eurovision triumph, The Arockalypse (2006-2008)

In 2005, Mr. Lordi received a call from the Finnish Eurovision selection committee and asked him to choose two songs from the new album that could represent Finland in the competition. The group chose the songs Bringing Back the Balls to Rock and Hard Rock Hallelujah, the latter being voted for by the majority of Finnish television viewers in the semi-finals. Lordi changed the arrangement, shortening the song from four minutes to three, as prescribed by the competition format. In the final of the qualifying competition, Lordi successfully won the audience vote and were chosen to represent Finland at Eurovision. For the first time in history, Finland, a country with a rich tradition of rock music, was represented by a rock band (Nightwish also won the audience vote in 2000, but was rejected by the committee). However, Lordi's election caused a scandal. Some public organizations have called the group "satanic" for its image and lyrics. In addition, Lordi had financial problems with the delivery of expensive equipment and pyrotechnics to Greece, where the competition was held. Thanks to the help of sponsors, this problem was solved.

Lordi made it through the semi-finals of the competition and performed in the finals. The musicians' performance was accompanied by a spectacular pyrotechnic show, and the famous rock singer Pasi Rantanen performed backing vocals for the group wearing a Gene Simmons mask. Hard Rock Hallelujah won the audience vote, ahead of Russian participant Dima Bilan and the group Hari Mata Hari from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with a score of 292 points, a record in the history of Eurovision until the change in the judging system in 2006, Lordi took first place in the competition. Winning the competition brought the group wider fame. The album The Arockalypse climbed to the top of the charts in Finland, Sweden and Greece. Hard Rock Hallelujah was released as a separate single and two versions of the video clip were shot for it.

The President and Prime Minister of Finland personally congratulated the group on their victory at Eurovision. In May 2006, a grand solo open air took place in Helsinki, which attracted 90,000 people and was the largest public event ever organized in the capital of the northern country. And “Hard Rock Hallelujah” reached another height: performed in a karaoke version, this song united about 80,000 votes, thus the world record set by Irish rugby fans (50,000 votes) was broken by fans of the Finnish “monsters”. Continuing the string of accolades, Rovaniemi's central square was renamed after Lordi.

After winning the competition, Lordi held a tour “Bringing Back the Balls to Europe”, visiting Moscow as well. During one of the performances (namely on October 31 in London), former bassist Kalma appeared on stage. The group increasingly appeared on various television shows in many European countries, as well as in the United States. In November 2006, the group was nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards, and Mr. Lordi presented the awards to the winners. In 2007, Lordi performed at the Download and Ozzfest festivals, in 2008 at Wacken Open Air, and in the summer of 2007 they starred in the horror film Dark Floors. The soundtrack of the film was the single "Beast Loose in Paradise".

Deadache (2008—2010)

On May 7, 2008, the group began working on their fourth album. For the new album, the group had 60 compositions, of which the group selected 13. All members of the group contributed to the writing of the album's songs. The release of “Deadache” took place on October 23. The album was less commercially successful than The Arockalypse. The cover of the single "Bite It Like a Bulldog" features Mister Lordi's bulldog. At the end of the year, Lordi held the Deadache USA tour, and in 2009, Deadache Europe. On February 20, the group released their second collection, “Zombilation - The Greatest Cuts,” which includes the best songs from the first four albums. It was recorded on the Drakkar label, after which the group did not renew the contract with him, finally moving to Sony Music.

Babez For Breakfast, line-up changes (2010—2012)

The fifth album was released on October 18, 2010. The single "This Is Heavy Metal", released on August 16, became the soundtrack of the film Saw 3D. In October 2010, drummer Kita announced his departure from the group due to his desire to perform under his own name in the group Stala & SO. Otus became Lordi's new drummer, but on February 15, 2012 the group sadly announced his death. In August 2012, a letter from Ava appeared on the official website of the Lordi group, in which the keyboard player announced that she was leaving the group. On August 11, in Rovaniemi, on the band’s twentieth anniversary, the last concert with Ava’s participation took place.

On September 3, Scarchives vol. was released in limited edition in Finland. 1 - a collection containing songs from the Bend Over and Pray the Lord demo album, video footage of the first concert, as well as other rare materials.

To Beast or Not to Beast (2012—2014)

On December 17, 2012, keyboardist Hella and drummer Mana were introduced. The real names of the musicians are unknown.

On March 1, 2013, the sixth studio album was released, entitled To Beast or Not to Beast (an interpretation of Shakespeare’s “to be or not to be”). On February 9, the first single from the sixth studio album, entitled “The Riff,” was released.

On June 29, 2013, Lordi performed their program in front of an audience of 50,000 in Russia in Maloyaroslavets, at The Russian Bike Week.

Scare Force One (2014–present)

In a New Year's video greeting, the group announced that they were starting to collect material for a new album. The first rehearsals took place in the spring, and on June 2 we started recording in the Finnvox studio. Throughout the recording of the album, the band shared videos and photos from the recording process. The band recorded part of the album in Lapland. At the time of the start of recording the album, the group had 28 demos. According to tradition, two months before the release of the album, the group announced new costumes, album covers, track listing and announced release dates for singles.

On May 29 and May 31, 2014, the group performed at the Made in Finland festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the stages of the Crocus City Hall concert hall and the Sibur Arena sports complex were shared with such famous Finnish performers as Michael Monroe, Poets of the Fall and ex-Nightwish soloist Tarja Turunen.

On September 26, 2014, the documentary film “Monsterimies” (“Monster Man”) was released, telling about the life of the group after Eurovision. Lordi fans had been waiting for the premiere for almost two and a half years, but on the day of release, Mr. Lordi criticized the film, saying that the information in it was not true. The group boycotted the premiere of the film, including due to the fact that director Antti Haase decided to show keyboard player Ava without a mask in the film.

The release of the new album took place on October 31, 2014 in Europe, and on November 3 of the same year in North America.

On November 14 and 15, 2015, Lordi performed in Russia for the sixth time, this time as part of the “Tour force one” tour.

Group style

Suits

Costumes and masks are the main feature of the group. They are made from latex and hand painted by Mr. Lordi. Before each concert, musicians put on makeup for more than an hour. Each image created by musicians is unique. In the event of a change in composition, the new participant does not inherit the old image, but receives a new pseudonym and a new mask. In addition, on the occasion of the release of a new album, the band members always update their costume designs. The sources of Lordi's image are such American glam metal bands as Kiss, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister and others. At the same time, the American thrash metal band GWAR openly competes with Lordi. Their frontman Oderus Urungus often called Lordi “the child version of GWAR.”

Performances

The group's concerts are accompanied by vibrant pyrotechnic shows and many theatrical elements. During performances, participants use chainsaws, swords, skulls, and zombies and monsters appear on the stage. During the performance of "Devil Is a Loser" (also during the Eurovision performance of "Hard Rock Hallelujah"), Mr. Lordi "grows" huge wings on his back. An integral attribute of the frontman is also a double-headed axe.

Music

Lordi's music is primarily hard rock with classic heavy metal influences. Since the group combines heavy music, masks and horror-style costumes, the group's genre can be called shock rock, although it is not a musical direction. Musically, the group's sound is reminiscent of Kiss, Twisted Sister, Accept and U.D.O.

Appearances without masks

During performances, interviews and television shows, the group appears exclusively in their stage image. However, on May 22, 2006, the German tabloid Bild managed to obtain several small photos of the artists. On the same day, the English newspaper Daily Mail published an opinion that the Children of Bodom group was hiding behind the masks of monsters in full force. The authors of the article were prompted to this idea by the fact that Enary, a former member of Lordi, had previously performed in that group. However, both groups stated that the groups were different and that what was stated in the article was not true.

Exhibitions

Various exhibitions dedicated to Lordi are often held in Finland:
The first exhibition was held in the fall of 2011 in Helsinki, where one could see artworks painted personally by Mr. Lordi. Exhibitions of paintings by Mr. Lordi was held several times, in Helsinki and Rovaniemi.
From June 28 to July 29, 2014, a new exhibition entitled “The Other Side of Lordi - Toinen totuus” was held in the Finnish city of Savonlinna. On it you could see the group's costumes from 2004-2010; decorations and details of past concerts and much more. Also, the exhibition was visited by the musicians themselves: vocalist Mr. Lordi and guitarist Amen.
From April 30 to June 3, 2016, an exhibition called “Lordi Smash 2016” was held in the city of Kemi, Finland. On it, visitors could see paintings for studio album covers; Mr. costumes Lordi (2004), Amena (2004), Oksa (2006), Ava (2007) and Otus (2011); things related to the Eurovision Song Contest; Lordi comics and an exclusive moped in Lordi style.
The next exhibition will take place from June 17 to August 13, 2016 in Helsinki, under the title “ExtraLORDInary”. According to rumors, it will be possible to see all the costumes of the musicians in the entire history of the group; paintings by Mr. Lordi, and much more.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/

Lordi is a Finnish English-language rock band playing in the hard and heavy genre. Founded in 1996 by Tomi Putaansuu (aka Mr. Lordi). The group is famous for performing in masks and monster costumes, and performing ironic horror-themed songs. Lordi is the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.

Tomi Putaansuu, musician and chairman of the fan club of the hard rock band KISS, decided to create a group in imitation of his idols. Following the example of KISS, all members of the new group took pseudonyms. Putaansuu himself became known as Mister Lordi. Participants perform and appear in public exclusively in monster stage costumes. The performances are accompanied by a pyrotechnic show and theatrical elements.
The debut album Get Heavy was released in 2002 on Halloween night - November 1st. The songs Devil Is a Loser and Would You Love a Monsterman? (English: Will You Love a Man-Monster?) from this album became the group's first hits. They were released as singles and videos were shot for them. The lyrics were dedicated to “horror films” - monsters, vampires, demons, as well as praise to rock music.
Lordi began to be promoted by the famous producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, who had previously worked with the groups HIM, Amorphis and Sentenced. Under his leadership, the album The Monsterican Dream was released, which was darker than the previous one and had less commercial success. After this, the group underwent lineup changes: new bassist Ox and keyboardist Ava arrived. Lordi toured Europe as the opening act for HammerFall. Their first two albums were compiled into a compilation and released in Britain under the name The Monster Show. Next came the heavier and more successful The Arockalypse. It was attended as guests by Udo Dirkschneider (Accept, U.D.O., Bruce Kulick (KISS), members of Twisted Sister and other famous musicians.
In 2005, Mr. Lordi received a call from the Eurovision selection committee asking him to choose a song from the new album that could represent Finland in the competition. The group chose the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" and changed the arrangement to shorten the song from four minutes to three, as prescribed by the competition format. Lordi successfully won the audience vote and were chosen to represent Finland at Eurovision. For the first time in history, Finland, a country with a rich tradition of rock music, was represented by a rock band (Nightwish also won the audience vote in 2000, but was rejected by the committee). However, Lordi's election caused a scandal. Some public organizations have called the group "satanic" for its image and lyrics. In addition, Lordi had financial problems with the delivery of expensive equipment and pyrotechnics to Greece, where the competition was held. Thanks to the help of sponsors, this problem was solved.
Lordi passed the qualifying round and performed in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Hard Rock Hallelujah won the audience vote, ahead of Russian participant Dima Bilan and the group Hari Varešanović from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with a score of 292 points, a record in the history of Eurovision until the change in the judging system in 2006, Lordi took first place in the competition. Winning the competition brought the group wider fame. The album The Arockalypse climbed to the top of the charts in Finland, Sweden and Greece. Hard Rock Hallelujah was released as a separate single, and two versions of the video clip were shot for it.
Lordi went on a world tour and performed at the Download and Ozzfest festivals. In 2008, the group recorded their fourth album, Deadache.

Costumes and masks are the main feature of the group. They are made from latex and painted by hand. Before each concert, musicians put on makeup for more than an hour. Each image created by musicians is unique. In the event of a change in composition, the new participant does not inherit the old image, but comes up with a new pseudonym and a new mask.
In addition to KISS, Alice Cooper, the group GWAR and others are called sources of Lordi's image and concert show. GWAR openly compete with Lordi, whom they consider to be "plagiarists", and an effigy of Mr. Lordi is sometimes "killed" at GWAR concerts.
Members of Lordi do not appear in public without masks, even at press conferences and other events. This obligation is included in their contract, and even when Finnish President Tarja Halonen persuaded the musicians to come to her reception without masks, they refused.
Only with great difficulty did paparazzi from the German tabloid Bild manage to obtain several photographs of the real faces of the musicians in 2005. Before this, fake photographs of the “real” Lordi appeared in the press. For example, the Daily Mail claimed that the Children of Bodom group was hidden under the masks in full force. Both groups said this was untrue.

Current participants:

Tomy "Mr. Lordi" Putaansuu (Tomi Putaansuu) - vocals
Jussi "Amen" Sydänmaa - guitar
Samer "OX" el Nahhal - bass guitar
Leena "Awa" Peisa - keyboards
Sampsa "Kita" Astala - drums

Former members:

"G-Stealer" (Sami Keinänen) - bass guitar (1996-1999)
"Magnum" (Sami Wolking) - bass guitar (1999-2002)
Niko "Kalma" Hurme - bass guitar (2002-2005)
Erna "Enary" Siikavirta - keyboards (1997-2005)

Discography:

Get Heavy (2002)
The Monsterican Dream (2004)
The Monster Show (2005)
The Arockalypse (2006)
Deadache (2008)
Zombilation - The Greatest Cuts (2009)

The founder of the group is Tomi Petteri Putaansuu - now called Lordi.

The founder of the group is Tomi Petteri Putaansuu - now called Lordi.
He started playing in a small band in Rovaniemi, but was forced to leave it when the musicians refused to use elements of the KISS style in their performances.

Since 1991, Putaansuu began using the stage name Lordi. The rest of the band met for the first time in 1996 at a KISS concert in Stockholm. Then it was decided to use the image of monsters as a stylistic device in his work, and hide their faces under terrible masks.
Lordi made themselves known seriously in the summer of 2002 with the release of their first single “Would You Love a Monsterman”, which became a real hit in Finland. “We knew that this song would definitely take off, because it very accurately characterizes our team and what it wants to convey to people.

Our goals are quite simple: we want rock to become an entertaining genre again, too many boring and serious bands have divorced lately,” this comment belongs to the frontman of the band named Lordi.

And on November 1, 2002, their debut album “Get Heavy” was released, which after a short time hit the Top 5 of the national chart and has already earned platinum status in terms of sales.

Hearing the team will not be enough; the musicians themselves advise not to miss their show. And they are right. This becomes obvious after watching their videos: the band members, dressed in monster costumes, offer viewers a real enchanting spectacle. According to the vocalist: “We want to entertain the audience with every video and live performance. Our rule is to attract attention as much as possible and keep the viewer in suspense.”
Everyone has dreams, even those who are completely tired of life. For some, these dreams are purely mercantile, for others they are sublime and pious. Still others dream of something completely unrealistic. What they have in common is that we treat them with respect, because they are the driving force of history. And this is equally true for a dream that is hidden deep in the soul, and for a dream that you want to tell the whole world about. Such as “Monsterican Dream”, which can be roughly translated as “Monsterican dream”.

For ten years he, like Dr. Frankenstein, assembled his own monster. Heroes from his childhood, such as the Hulk, Count Dracula and the characters of the Muppet Show, stayed with him all the way from a boy experimenting with his mother’s cosmetics and filming horror films with friends on an old video camera, to a real master of nightmares. His real name is completely unimportant. As well as the fact that he was born and raised in Rovaniemi, a small Finnish town in the Arctic Circle, where night lasts throughout the long winter months. However, the world he created is much darker. And now he is Lordi, the embodiment of all nightmares, present and past. A boy who turned into a monster of his own free will, and not because of an unhappy childhood.
But no one wants to be alone, even those who call themselves “Rock and Roll’s Freddy Krueger.” Lordi began an intensified search for kindred spirits. And when I finally found it, I was not at all surprised that each of them turned out to be a veteran of the large army of Kiss fans. But more importantly, they were all ready to abandon their former selves and embody the collective images of terrible monsters. Meet Amen, the great mummy, Enari, the powerful Valkyrie, Kalma, the zombie biker from Hell, and Kita, the alien man-beast who combines every beast known to man. Led by Lordi, this dark army is armed with guitars and killer songs. A Sound of Thunder!

Challenging everything and everyone, this riotous flock majestically sweeps through the Haunted City, shrouded in the haze of fires. Children of the Night and Forgotten Mannequins live here in fear of waking the serpent or falling under the hot hand of Pet the Destroyer and the Blood Red Sandman. And even though Lordi declares: My heaven is your Hell, this scary place also reflects a state of mind, one that allows you to throw your hands up and sing along and party all night as you please!

And once you delve deep into monster dreams, you will understand one important thing. Being a monster is a lot of fun. (And girls don’t always prefer white and fluffy ones, huh?)

The music from the album “The Monsterican Dream” was created jointly by the entire band and the famous producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (worked with the groups “HIM”, “Amorphis”, “Sentenced”). Hiilesmaa was perfect for this job, as he had long been known as the “Mad Scientist”, a mad scientist who also had a good understanding of all things heavy metal. Together, the monsters and the mad scientist have created a selection of twelve explosive hymns to the glory of the other world: massive, loud, spiky songs that, at the right moment, can pretend to be crystal mindless. Songs that will raise the dead from the grave.

Lyrics - or horror stories? – were written personally by Lordi himself. The special edition of the album also contains the thirteenth “horror story,” in which the musicians put aside their instruments and become actors for thirty blood-red minutes. Lordi's The Kin is a surreal horror film directed by Lauri Haukkamaa. Although your children are not recommended to watch it, the child in you will scream with delight.

The best way to understand the “Monsterican Dream” is to watch Lordi show live. Unfettered by unnecessary conventions, it contains the best of Alice Cooper. In other words, great fun for everyone and no empty sophistication!
Europe also tried to understand the “Monsterican dream” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens. And there were so many obstacles to their performance at the competition: Even after winning the national competition in Finland, there were requests even to President Tarja Halonen to veto the sending of Lordi as a competitor from Finland. A scandal also broke out in Greece - several public and religious figures in Greece spoke out against the monsters from Finland, several criminal cases were opened on charges of Satanism, but Lordi won. He won triumphantly, scoring the highest number of points in the entire history of the competition.

“We created a group that you liked. We wrote songs that you love to sing along to. That's basically all we did." - says Lordi.

Composition of the group:

“Mr. Lordi" – vocals (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu)
“Amen” – guitar (Jussi Sydänmaa)
“Ox” – bass guitar (Samer el Nahhal)
“Awa” – keyboards (Leena Peisa)
“Kita” – drums (Sampsa Astala)

Former members:

"Magnum" - bass guitar (1996–2002) (unknown)
“Kalma” – bass guitar (2002–2005) (Pekka Tarvanen)
“Enary” – keyboards (1997–2005) (Erna Siikavirta)

Discography:

2002 Get Heavy
2004 The Monsterican Dream
2005 The Monster Show
2006 The Arockalypse
2006 The Arockalypse Special Edition