This years Finnish entry in Eurovision

A Finnish friend of mine put me on to these guys - a very cheesy and entirely entertaining metal outfit called Lordi.

Lordi will be the official Finnish act in the Eurovision song contest this year and have a very 80's metal / cockrock kind of sound, with lyrics all in English. There's a kind of The Darkness feel about them but heavier and without the o.t.t falsetto.

According to their bio

Lordi is a self-taught professional FX-make-up artist. Each costume and make-up has been designed, sculpted and detail painted by himself. It takes up to five hours to get the whole band applied in make-up and dressed in the multi-part rubber suits.

The stage set, which contains two stone towers with gargoyles on top, a wide stone logo and a whole lot of horrific props, were also done by the band from the scratch.

Lordi also drew a 12-page Lordi comic book, which was given to consumers as a bonus gift when they purchased the first single "Would You Love A Monsterman?". The single went gold and reached #1 in the Finnish single charts.

Lordi entered the studio to record their debut album "Get Heavy" with producer T.T. Oksala in early 2002.

Musically Lordi is strongly inspired by 80's heavy metal melodies, with a twist of modern day programming. Simple, striking, ass-kicking heavy rock!

The album was finally mixed in London at SARM STUDIOS by Kevin Shirley, who?s previous work includes names like IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH and THE BLACK CROWES among others.

Being a strongly visual band, Lordi shot their first video, "Would You Love A Monsterman?", in a staged horror forest. It was designed by the professionals that were behind OZZY OSBOURNE's image.

The video was also co-scripted by Lordi, who drew the storyboards. The "Would You Love A Monsterman?" video gives a glimpse of what to expect from the up-coming Lordi stage shows: pyros, special effects and monsters.

Lots more information to be found on their official website - http://www.lordi.org