Lordi

Not to be confused with Lorde.

Lordi
Lordi at Rockharz Open Air, Germany 2019 In the picture: Mr Lordi and Amen.
Background information
Origin	Rovaniemi, Finland
Genres	Hard rock heavy metal shock rock
Years active	1992–present
Labels	AFM Records, Sony Music, GUN, The End, BMG, Drakkar Records
Members	Mr Lordi Amen Hella Mana Hiisi
Past members	G-Stealer Enary Magnum Kita Kalma Awa Otus OX
Website	lordi.fi

Lordi (Finnish pronunciation: [lordi]) is a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu). In addition to their melodic metal music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster masks and using horror elements with pyrotechnics during concerts and music videos. The band rose to fame in 2002 with their hit single "Would You Love a Monsterman?", and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

Lordi has toured and recorded actively since 2002, and Mr Lordi upgrades the band's costumes and masks for each album. The band has gone through several line-up changes, but original members Mr Lordi and guitarist Amen are still active with the band. Members of Lordi have stated their desire for their unmasked faces to remain private. However, they have made a number of unmasked appearances in several news outlets.

History

Formation (1992–2002)

Lordi was formed in 1992 as a solo project by Mr Lordi. Lordi's very first demo album Napalm Market was done in 1993. The album included a song "Inferno", which also got a music video, all done by Mr Lordi. In the music video Mr Lordi performed unmasked but he had made monster make-up for his friends who played secondary role in the video. After the video was done, Mr Lordi got an idea of a band of monsters. "Inferno" was later released in Finnish "Rockmurskaa" compilation album in 1995. In 1996 Mr Lordi organized a Kiss cruise for Finnish Kiss fans from Finland to Sweden. During the cruise he met musicians Amen and G-Stealer, and told them about his music project called Lordi. After the cruise they joined the band. One year later Enary joined the band on keyboard and the band recorded their first album, Bend Over And Pray The Lord. At the time when the album was recorded, the band didn't have a drummer and they used MIDI drum tracks in place of a real drummer.

Ari Tiainen, the owner of their record company, had originally planned to publish the album; however, the company did not have sufficient resources to market it. Tiainen recommended Lordi to the record label Kimmo Hirvonen's Records, owned by Anaconda. The album was planned to release in early 1999, but Anaconda Records went bankrupt shortly before the planned release date and the album was never released.

The band never performed with the original line-up, though they had been promised a record release gig in 1999. During the same year G-Stealer left the band because of work commitments and was replaced by Magnum, whom Mr Lordi had met via Kiss Army Finland. In 2000, drummer Kita joined and the band got their first drummer.

Get Heavy and success in Europe (2002–2004)

After several failed attempts at obtaining a recording contract, Lordi signed a record deal with Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) Finland in 2002. In July, the band released their first official single, "Would You Love A Monsterman?", which rose to number one in Finland and spawned a music video. During the summer the band went under the auspices of producer TT Oksala's Finnvox Studios to record their first official album, though debut recording ran into several problems.

In autumn 2002, bassist Magnum was fired and replaced by Kalma. Though Lordi's debut album had already been recorded when Kalma joined, he appeared in the album art and the composition of the accounts. Their debut album Get Heavy was released in November, with a cover design loosely based on Kiss's Love Gun album. The original first sketch of the cover was based on Kiss's Destroyer album. The album won the 2003 Emma award for best domestic hard rock or heavy metal album, and Get Heavy has sold more than 67,000 copies. It was certified platinum in Finland in 2003 and multi-platinum in 2006.

Lordi played their first gig on 8 December 2002, in Helsinki at the Nosturi Club. In 2003, Lordi appeared at several music events in Finland and abroad, especially in Germany, where they played as a part of the Wacken Road Show. During some of the Germany tour, Lordi played as Nightwish's support act. The tour boosted both bands' popularity in Germany and helped them sign a recording contract with the German record company Drakkar. Nightwish had already achieved solid success of joint concerts in Germany and Lordi also raised their profile in Germany.

The Monsterican Dream (2004–2006)

Lordi performing live in 2005.

At the beginning of 2004, Lordi began recording their next studio album. This time the album was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa, with whom the band got along well. This second album was first released on 14 April 2004 as The Monsterican Dream. Two songs from the album, "My Heaven Is Your Hell" and "Blood Red Sandman", have since been released as singles. Corresponding with the release of the album, the band's costumes and image were also reformed. The special edition of the album also contained a DVD of the band's own short film, The Kin. The film, despite the success of the album it was attached to, has been poorly received. The album went gold two years after release.

In February 2005 Lordi's first compilation album The Monster Show was released by Sanctuary Records. Sanctuary had originally intended to market a collection of records in the United States, but these plans were halted due to financial problems. Sanctuary, however, published a compilation album in the UK. In Finland, a collection was published by Sony BMG.

The idea of The Monster Show disc collection has its roots in spring 2004, around the release of The Monsterican Dream album. Mr Lordi, while interviewing the band Kiss for Inferno magazine, gave the band's bassist/vocalist, Gene Simmons, a copy of Lordi's debut album, Get Heavy (2002). Later, Simmons' assistant announced that Simmons would be willing to publish Lordi's albums in the United States, but if the band would like to share sales revenue, it would be better to publish with Sanctuary Records. Sanctuary did not want to publish either of the studio albums individually, and instead preferred a compilation of the best songs. Thus, songs were picked from Get Heavy and The Monsterican Dream, and collected in the compilation album The Monster Show. The collection was published in the spring of 2005 during the European Monstour.

Meanwhile, the internal atmosphere of the band increased in intensity and led to a dispute between members. Later that year, bassist Kalma wanted to resign because of family and financial problems. Mr Lordi, trying to persuade Kalma to stay, suggested that he just play the biggest tours and other contractually obligated performances. Kalma, however, did not relent, because he wanted to be involved with the band either in full or not at all. Kalma did, however, play the bass units for the future The Arockalypse album. Kalma left the band just before Lordi entered the Eurovision Song Contest qualifier.

Two new members joined the band, bassist OX and keyboardist Awa. This change in members spawned more alterations to the band's costumes. OX (Samer el Nahhal)'s stage name was originally intended to be el Nahhal's real first name, Samer. However, Mr. Lordi opined that the idea was ridiculous, as an Egyptian hard rock band would be highly unlikely to have a member named "Tapani" (Finnish name). OX's monster character was created to be a "bulltaurus", a hybrid of man and bull, who served as guardian to a magician until they were betrayed by a fellow magician and murdered. The murderer then resurrected OX as part of an undead legion, but OX murders his new master after discovering his role in the betrayal. Soon afterwards he meets Mr. Lordi and decides to join him. Awa's was given a backstory wherein she was depicted as a psychic young woman who (by means of astral projection) discovers that her fiancé is cheating on her, and murders him telekinetically. She proceeds to use her abilities for evil, until she is caught and condemned to death by impalement, but her rage and hate is too strong and she returns as a murderous ghost, wandering Europe in her rotting wedding gown until she is found by Mr. Lordi and offered the ability to cross dimensions if she will work with him, to which she agrees.

The Arockalypse, winning Eurovision and worldwide success (2006–2008)

Lordi's third album The Arockalypse was released on May 1, 2006. On 20 May 2006, Lordi made history by winning the Eurovision Song Contest held in Athens with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", becoming the first Finnish group to win the contest and consequently the first Hard Rock / Heavy Metal band to win; Finland would then send Power Metal band Teräsbetoni in 2008. The song scored 292 points, which was an all-time points record for then. Lordi was also a semi-final number one and even got 292 points, which was historic, as they were the first competitors to win both the semi-finals and the finals. Pasi Rantanen from the band Thunderstone performed backing vocals for the performance, wearing a Gene Simmons Kiss mask.

Lordi opened the fall of 2006 Bringing Back the Balls to Europe tour; the concert DVD was released in February 2007 as Bringing Back the Balls to Stockholm 2006. The tour ended with a surprise: during the last gig in London, 31 October, the band's former bassist, Kalma, was seen as a guest on stage.

In November 2006, Lordi headlined the MTV Europe Music Awards, and Mr Lordi presented the "Best Rock" award. Around the same time, Bill Aucoin, best known as the original manager of Kiss, became Lordi's manager. In spring 2007, Lordi created the Bringing Back the Balls tour, which toured in Japan and the Baltic countries. In May, the band was involved in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 held in Helsinki, and opened the competition with their winning song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

In early summer 2007 in Oulu, the members of Lordi participated in filming of the horror film Dark Floors, which premiered on 8 February 2008. In July 2007, Lordi toured North America with the Ozzfest festival.

After the Ozzfest tour ended in late August, Lordi went on a short break. In September, it was announced that the band would go on a new tour of the U.S. with the band Type O Negative, beginning on 12 October 2007. The tour ended on 31 October 2007. During the tour, the band's tour staff, local security, and a few fans were subjected to violence. The band's tour manager Rikk Scholvinck and the security men were robbed at gunpoint by unknown assailants after a concert in Louisville, KY. Rikk Scholvinck and several fans and security escaped unharmed. However, concert goers Kristin Perrin and Ross Epstein had several items (amongst them were cell phones and car keys) were taken off of them. The would-be robbers fled the scene with a stolen car before the police arrived. Most items were returned to Kristin Perrin and Ross Epstein due to they were found down the road from the venue. As an apology, all involved received Lifetime backstage all access passes and various LORDI memorabilia. At the end of the tour the band returned to Finland to record the theme song for Dark Floors.

Deadache (2008–2010)

Lordi performing in Barcelona in 2009.

Lordi began recording their fourth album in the spring of 2008 and the album was released on 29 October 2008. The album, Deadache, was produced by Nino Laurenne. The release spurred yet another change in the band's costumes. The album was similar in style to its predecessors, melodic hard rock and heavy metal, though with more horror theme. Prior to the completion of the disc, it was revealed that it featured more piano solos than its predecessors, and that the recital "Missing Miss Charlene" featured a child singing. The album's first single was called "Bite It Like a Bulldog", and it was published on 3 September 2008.

Lordi announced before the release of the album that Deadache would be marketed internationally, like its immediate predecessor.

"It goes without saying that the song contest of the last album distorted the situation, and this can not be sold in any case, the same number in Europe or, especially in Finland. We know that Finland is likely to disc stamped with the flop, even if it would sell double platinum, it does not sell 100,000 copies", Mr Lordi said in August 2008.

Shortly after the publication of Deadache, Lordi made a tour of the United States in November in conjunction with Lizzy Borden. Lordi performed "Bite It Like a Bulldog" on the NBC show Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 6 November 2008.

Babez for Breakfast, band's 20th anniversary and Otus' death (2010–2012)

Mr Lordi spent a week in Los Angeles with Jeremy Rubolino and former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick writing two new tracks, "Cut Off My Head" and "Call Off The Wedding". In March 2010 Mark Slaughter and Bruce Kulick played in a part of their new song. Babez for Breakfast was recorded in Nashville, and produced by legendary Michael Wagener. The first single, called "This is Heavy Metal", from the album was released in August 2010, with the album following in September.

On 4 October 2010 it was announced that drummer Kita had left the band, and on October 16, OX posted on his Twitter account they had found a new drummer. On October 26, 2010 it was announced on Lordi's website that Otus had become their new drummer. Otus joined the band just before Lordi's Europe for Breakfast tour started.

In 2011 Mr Lordi took part in Finnish TV-series "Kuorosota" and because of that reason the band couldn't make a long tour. However, they played on a few metal festivals.

On 15 February 2012 it was announced on their Facebook page that Otus had died. Due to the death of Otus, Lordi cancelled all their concerts scheduled for the beginning of 2012, but they had some summer festival concerts that they couldn't cancel. Lordi got help from Jimmy Hammer, the drummer of Finnish band Ironcross, who played drums for Lordi's 2012 concerts. Jimmy Hammer used a monster disguise to fit in the band, and was only called as "the drummer". His identity was told after.

In September 2012, Scarchives Vol. 1, a compilation CD+DVD, was released to celebrate Lordi's 20th anniversary. The CD contains previously unreleased old Lordi songs, including all the songs from the unreleased album from 1997, Bend Over And Pray The Lord. The DVD contains Lordi's very first concert in Helsinki 2002. The video was edited by Otus.

Keyboardist Awa left the band in fall of 2012. She was seen for the last time during Lordi's 20th anniversary concert, at Simerock in Rovaniemi, Finland on August 11.

To Beast or Not to Beast (2012–2014)

Lordi began recording their sixth studio album on September 1, 2012 with two new members, Mana as the new drummer and Hella as the new keyboardist. This album was recorded at WireWorld Studio in Nashville, and produced and mixed by Michael Wagener, like the previous one. The first single from the new album, "The Riff", was released digitally on February 8, 2013. The studio album To Beast or Not to Beast was recorded in March 2013.

After the release of the single the band took part in Wok WM competition in Germany. The album was released on March 1, 2013. A European tour in support of the new album, "Tour Beast Or Not Tour Beast", started in April, 2013. The tour also included one concert in Japan.

Lordi started the recordings for their seventh studio album on June 2 in Finnish Finnvox studios with the producer Mikko Karmila. On July the band moved to secret place in Lapland to continue the recordings.

On June 28 in Savonlinna, Finland the first official Lordi-exhibition was opened, The Other side of Lordi. There Lordi's former costumes and stage props were shown, including Lordi's album cover artworks (painted by Mr Lordi). Mr Lordi and Amen visited the exhibition during the opening night.

Scare Force One (2014–2016)

Lordi, appearing in the interval act for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

On July 31, 2014, the group announced that the title of their seventh studio album would be "Scare Force One". The album was recorded in June, and was released on October 31 in Europe, November 3 in North America, and November 26 in Japan with a bonus track. The first single from the album, "Nailed by the Hammer of Frankenstein", was released digitally on September 19.

On November 1 Lordi performed at The Circus in Helsinki to promote the release of the album. Three months long European tour "Tour Force One" started on February 1, 2015 and ended in early April.

In early 2015, it was announced via Facebook that Hella was pregnant. The band's guitarist, Amen, later confirmed that Hella would be replaced for the summer festivals. In summer 2015, Hella's temporary replacement, Nalle (Finnish for Teddy Bear), was seen for the first time at Rovaniemi. In November Lordi played 2 gigs in Russia (Saint Petersburg and Moscow), still with Hella.

On February 27, 2016, Lordi performed "Hard Rock Hallelujah" in the Finnish Eurovision final, as special guests.

On May 14, 2016, Lordi appeared in the interval act for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, in a musical number satirising Eurovision songs.

Monstereophonic (Theaterror Vs. Demonarchy) (2016–2018)

In late 2015, the band had announced that a new album was in the works. Recording began in December, but was halted after the death of Mr. Lordi's father.

In April 2016, recording began again, with producer Nino Laurenne, who had previously produced Deadache in 2008. In interview for "Spark TV", Mr. Lordi stated that the new album will be released in September. The album, untitled at the time, was described by Mr. Lordi as a "split album". The first six songs of the album will sound like normal Lordi songs, while the last six songs will be more progressive and will follow a concept. A promotional tour for the album called "European Monstour-2016" began in October 2016.

The single from the album, "Hug You Hardcore", was released in August 2016. A music video for the song was later released. Lordi announced the title of the eighth album, Monstereophonic (Theaterror vs. Demonarchy) on July 13, which was released on September 16.

Later the band announced that they would be touring North America and Canada for the first time in 2017. The tour began on February 2 and concluded on March 4.

Sexorcism and departure of OX (2018–2020)

On March 9, 2018, the band announced the name of the ninth album Sexorcism along with its album cover. It was released on May 25, 2018. The band promised that it would be possibly their "most controversial" record to date. Their single from the album "Your Tongue's Got the Cat" was released on April 13, 2018. The second single off of the album titled "Naked in My Cellar" was released May 4, 2018 along with a music video.

Following four festival shows in the summer, a tour in support of the album called "Sextourcism" began in Europe on October 9 in Amstelveen, Netherlands and concluded on December 28 in Helsinki, Finland.

Lordi announced their third live DVD Recordead Live – Sextourcism in Z7 on May 17, 2019, which was recorded on November 23, 2018 in Pratteln, Switzerland during their tour. It was released on July 26, 2019.

OX had announced on March 14, 2019 that he would be departing the band after performing with them for the summer festivals that year. His final show with the band took place at the Reload Festival in Sulingen, Germany on August 23, 2019.

The band later introduced their new bass player, Hiisi. Hiisi's first show with the band took place at the Ice Hall in Helsinki on December 13, 2019 as the band was the opening act for Beast in Black.

Killection (2020–present)

On September 27, 2019, Lordi announced the title of their tenth album Killection. It was released on January 31, 2020, followed by a European tour titled "Killectour" in support of the album the same year. The band have said that this album is considered a 'fictional compilation' album and would contain songs you would normally hear in the early 1970s to mid-1990s. Their single from the album "Shake the Baby Silent", was released on November 8, 2019. Their second single off the album, "I Dug a Hole in the Yard for You", was released on November 29, 2019 along with a music video. The third single off the album, "Like a Bee to the Honey", was released on January 17, 2020.

During the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band performed a special livestream called "Scream Stream" on May 22, 2020 at the Paha Kurki Rockhouse in the band's hometown of Rovaniemi, performing various hits and rarities played by request as well as answering questions from fans.

Lordi was announced as be a part of the German heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air in August 2021; for which they will perform a special "Horror Castle" show.

Style

Band's music style

Lordi's music is formed by hard rock and heavy metal music elements. The band's horror-related albums, the monster costumes worn by all band members, and the horror elements of their performances are hallmarks of shock rock. The band was mostly influenced by KISS, but also by Alice Cooper and Twisted Sister.

Although the band is often perceived by the media as a heavy metal band due to their monster costumes, their musical style has more characteristics of the hard rock genre. Over the years, the band's musical style has taken a very varied direction between hard rock and metal, with the pattern seeming as though it changes between the two with every album released. Their debut album, Get Heavy, represented a large part of traditional hard rock music, but by the release of their The Monsterican Dream album in 2004, the band had shifted considerably toward heavier music and horror effects were prominently displayed. However, in their 2006 album The Arockalypse, Lordi shifted back toward hard rock, eschewing horror themes and special effects. Their 2008 studio album, Deadache, included more typical horror elements, leaning once again toward the heavier side of the spectrum. Babez For Breakfast saw the band once again shift back to the traditional hard rock elements, with an even greater exposure to the 1980s than the band's previous albums. To Beast or Not to Beast focuses completely on heavy metal, and was the band's heaviest album. Their 2014 album, Scare Force One, contains elements of heavy metal while still maintaining the melodic rhythm of hard rock. The band's 2016 album, Monstereophonic, is a "split album" consisting of two parts. Part one of the album (Theaterror) contains hard rock, while part two (Demonarchy) is conceptual, and much more progressive than any of Lordi's earlier content.

Costumes and masks

Amen's outfits are designed by Mr. Lordi.

Lordi members have stated that their costumes were inspired by Kiss and the horror genre. Mr Lordi himself has said that without Kiss, Lordi probably would not exist. The monster masks and costumes the band use are made of foam latex, with some other materials like canvas, metal and leather. The masks and costumes of Lordi are all and always made by Mr Lordi himself. As a professional make-up artist and sculptor, Mr Lordi has the necessary knowledge to produce those things easily. The band members do each other's makeup. The band updates their outfits and masks for each new album.

It takes the other band members about one hour to put their masks and costumes on, though it takes Mr Lordi two to three hours to put on his. He has also said that the materials for suits costs "a few hundred euros".

The monster costumes are such an integral part of Lordi's publicity image that they refuse to be photographed or even interviewed without them, even if in some cases it leads to their own discomfort. Lordi has done interviews without their masks but the interviews are always filmed from the back so that their faces are not visible. Previously during interviews, Lordi members spoke only English to the cameras, not their native Finnish. In a brief segment on the BBC reporting about the band attending the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, they were shown lounging beside a pool in full sunlight, while wearing their monster costumes.

Stage show

Lordi performing live with pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics, and horror elements are important parts of Lordi's stage show, designed and mostly created by Mr Lordi. Lordi's pyrotechnics are inspired by Kiss, while the horror elements are largely derived from horror movies with some influence from Alice Cooper. Their stage platform is also equipped with monster actors, zombies, dolls, tricks, and sometimes stage dancers. Mr Lordi is also known to use a two-headed axe.

In 2009 the band made some new special effects with big help from Weta Workshop of New Zealand. The workshop has also designed scenery for movies such as The Lord of the Rings, King Kong and 30 Days of Night.

Unmasked by the media

Lordi's public appearances always include the full costumes.

Despite the band's strict approach in relation to their costumes, multiple newspapers have published more or less fake photos of the band members without makeup. On 15 March 2006, the Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat published a photograph of Mr Lordi in civilian clothing, with his face partially showing. On 22 May 2006, the Daily Mail published what was believed to be an old picture of the band without their makeup or masks. It was later revealed that the band in the photo was actually Children of Bodom, a different band altogether. This was acknowledged on Children of Bodom's official website. The photograph did feature Enary, Lordi's former keyboard player. However, Enary left Lordi in 2005, well before the picture in the newspaper. On the same day, Bild-Zeitung, a German tabloid, published what they claimed was a photograph of Mr Lordi without his mask in its section "Bild Uncovered" with the headline "He is the Grand Prix Monster: All of Germany discusses the Ugliest Winners of all Time". Many other European tabloids and newspapers have published the same or similar photographs.

On 24 May 2006, the Finnish tabloid magazine 7 Päivää (Seven Days) published an old picture of Mr Lordi's face on the front page, and two days later another tabloid, Katso! ("Look!"), published unmasked pictures of the other four band members. Both magazines were heavily criticised by their readers for publishing these pictures, which led to swift apologies from both magazines and promises not to publish unmasked pictures of Lordi anymore. On 26 May 2006, video footage was shown on television in Lithuania. It featured four men dressed in black, sitting by the table at the airport in Athens. After a few seconds, Heikki Paasonen (the Eurovision Finnish commentator) in a black Lordi shirt came and stood in front of the camera, covering the view.

Tributes

The sign at Lordi's Square in Rovaniemi

Lordi's Square, in the centre of Rovaniemi, Finland, the hometown of the lead singer Mr Lordi, was renamed shortly after the band's victory at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was part of a redevelopment of Rovaniemi city centre. After the Eurovision victory, all the members of the line-up at the time got tributes from their hometowns.

Itella, the Finnish postal service, issued a Lordi postage stamp in May 2007 in recognition of their Eurovision win. Itella had already released Lordi's Christmas single, "It Snows in Hell" in a special Christmas card edition.

A brand of soda, "Lordi Cola", was named after them and was launched in September 2006, featuring labels designed by Mr Lordi, several depicting individual members and one featuring the whole band.

The 2.6.17-rc5 version of the Linux kernel was named after Lordi.

Personnel

Lordi started in 1992 as Mr Lordi's solo project; it wasn't until 1996 that Lordi became a band in its own right.

Members

Current members

• Mr Lordi – lead vocals (1992–present), drums (1992–2000), guitar, bass (1992–1996)
• Amen – guitar (1996–present)
• Hella – keyboards (2012–present)
• Mana – drums (2012–present)
• Hiisi – bass (2019–present)

Former members

• G-Stealer – bass (1996–1999)
• Enary – keyboards (1997–2005)
• Magnum – bass (1999–2002)
• Kita – drums, vocals (2000–2010)
• Kalma – bass (2002–2005)
• Awa – keyboards (2005–2012)
• Otus – drums (2010–2012) (his death)
• OX – bass (2005–2019)

Former touring members

• Jimmy "The Drummer" Hammer – drums (2012)
• Nalle – keyboards (2015, 2017)

Lineups

1992–1996	1996–1997	1997–1999	1999–2000
Mr Lordi – lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums	Mr Lordi – lead vocals, drums Amen – guitar G-Stealer – bass	Mr Lordi – lead vocals, drums Amen – guitar G-Stealer – bass Enary – keyboards	Mr Lordi – lead vocals, drums Amen – guitar Enary – keyboards Magnum – bass
2000–2002	2002–2005	2005	2005–2010
Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar Enary – keyboards Magnum – bass Kita - drums, vocals	Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar Enary – keyboards Kita – drums, vocals Kalma – bass	Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar Kita – drums, vocals Kalma – bass Awa – keyboards	Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar Kita – drums, vocals Awa – keyboards OX – bass
2010–2012	2012–2019	2019–present
Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar Awa – keyboards OX – bass Otus – drums	Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar OX – bass Hella – keyboards Mana – drums	Mr Lordi – lead vocals Amen – guitar Hella – keyboards Mana – drums Hiisi – bass

Timeline

Characters

Mr Lordi designs the outfits of the members by their characters. Each member of Lordi has their own monster character that they have created along with Mr Lordi. The only exception is the alien manbeast character which was originally made for the band's original bass player G-Stealer but it was later used by drummer Kita.

• 
  The Biomechanic Man / Hulk from Hell – Mr Lordi
• 
  The Mummified Pharaoh / Ancient Assassin – Amen
• 
  The Minister of Sinister / Insectoman – Mana
• 
  The Scarbie Doll – Hella
• 
  The Bulltaurus / "Hellbull" - OX
• 
  The Alien Man-Beast – G-Stealer (in the pic) & Kita
• 
  The Ghost Witch - Awa
• 
  The Butcher Creature - Otus
• 
  The Motorbiker Zombie - Kalma (left)

Discography

Main article: Lordi discography

• Get Heavy (2002)
• The Monsterican Dream (2004)
• The Arockalypse (2006)
• Deadache (2008)
• Babez for Breakfast (2010)
• To Beast or Not to Beast (2013)
• Scare Force One (2014)
• Monstereophonic (2016)
• Sexorcism (2018)
• Killection (2020)

Before Get Heavy the band had recorded a studio album Bend Over and Pray the Lord in 1997–1999. However, that album was never released. The original songs of the album were included in Lordi's Scarchives Vol. 1 compilation in 2012.

Filmography

The Kin

Cast:

• Lauri Haukkamaa (Director)
• Amanda Thurman as Anna Henderson
• Bruce Marsland as Jonathan
• Delia De Giovanni as Julie Henderson
• Sirkka Runolinna as Anna's mother
• Matti Ruuhonen as Birger Westling
• Anna Kaarna as Possessed girl
• Nick Lovelock as Marty

In 2004, Lordi co-wrote and starred in their own short film, The Kin, which was released on a special edition of "The Monsterican Dream" (CD/DVD or DualDisc versions) as a way of expanding the band's image and theatricality. It was co-written and directed by Lauri Haukkamaa, with contribution by Adam Vandor. It introduces the audience to members of the band and establishes the concept of superhuman monsters though at no time is any of the band's music played.

The film follows a young writer who loses her mother in a train wreck while she is trying to get her book on non-human creatures published. After a series of problems arise, the monsters, played by the members of Lordi, begin to kill people as well as bend time and space to ensure the publication of the book.

The film shares a lot of Lovecraftian concepts as well as style and pays homage to several B movies and horror films. Only a limited number of DVDs were published and therefore the film's availability has been low. The Kin has also been released on the Market Square Massacre DVD.

Dark Floors

Main article: Dark Floors

Monsterman

Monsterman is an unofficial documentary film released in 2014 that follows Mr Lordi as the lead member of Lordi. The movie was originally meant to be official documentary but after the director Antti Haase created the final cut, the band and its labels didn't support the film anymore. Mr Lordi stated that the movie shows only one half of the truth and give a false image of his private life.

Director Antti Haase says: 'When we were children Tomi (Mr Lordi) was the one and only friend who passionately wanted to be a monster. I believe that Lordi's story will appeal to everyone who refuses to give up their dreams, despite the greatest obstacles.'

Other releases

Official comics

• "Monster Magazine" (2002, English)
• "The Uninvited Guests" (Released in Suosikki -magazine) (2002, Finnish)
• "Keräilijä" ("The Collector") (Released in Jysäys -magazine) (2006, Finnish)
• Lordi 1: "Alkuperä" ("The Origin") (2006, Finnish)
• Lordi 2: "Verenjano" ("Bloodthirst") (2007, Finnish)
• Lordi 3: "Verensininen" ("Blue Blood") (2008, Finnish)
• Graphic Novels (Released in "Tour Beast Or Not Tour Beast 2013"-tourbook) (2013, English)
• Illustrated Lyrics (Released as part of the "Scare Force One - Hella's Kitchen Box") (2014, English)

Official books

• Mie oon Lordi ("I am Lordi") (2006) - biography book, Finnish
• The Songs for the Rockoning Day (2007) - notes and lyrics for Lordi songs, English

See also

• List of best-selling music artists in Finland

External links

• Official Site
• LORDI Army - international fan club
• Review: Lordi in London 2015
• Interview: Meeting a Monster - Mr. Lordi Tells of Monsters and Ghosts