Vass/Katsionis, the project of Billy Vass and Bob Katsionis, has returned with a new album, “Cynical Silence”, and all fans of progressive metal are excited. Because “Cynical Silence” is not simply a record, it is a real progressive metal seminar, a great manifest of true progressive metal art. All we in Myth of Rock can’t get the melodies of “Cynical Silence” out of our head and felt that an interview with Vass and Katsionis was more than obligatory! Both of them answered all our questions and helped us understand the phenomenon of Vass/Katsionis!

by Dimitris Zacharopoulos

How did the idea for the formation of Vass/Katsionis come up? Give us the full story of the project, until now.

(Billy) I would like to start off by thanking you for taking the time for this interview. When my band, Terra 1nc0gnita was done touring for our 2nd release "Fragments of a Ruined Mind", (Symmetric Records), I was presented with a dilemma. Was I to work on a 3rd album with the band, or was I to do what I always wanted: to record and produce a progressive metal album???It's obvious what I chose to do. I put the band on "ice", and I approached Bob with my vision.

Vass/Katsionis’ sophomore album was released almost a month ago. How do you feel that this new album is out now? Which are your ambitions for Vass/Katsionis?(Billy) I feel very positive about this album. It makes me feel accomplished as an artist and songwriter to put out such high-quality progressive metal that comes straight from the heart. I'm very proud of this record, not only because I poured my soul into it, but because I can hear it over and over without tiring. I'm always finding new "things" as I listen to it.

(Bob) When I started writing and recording music I was making it mostly to create what I wanted to hear. So the V/K “mobile” can help me travel in some other worlds that I couldn’t travel with any of my other bands or musical projects in the past. And that’s what I’m planning to do.

“Ethical Dilemma” was a great debut album! Where would you trace the differences between “Ethical Dilemma” and “Cynical Silence”? How much have you progressed?

(Billy) With “Ethical Dilemma”, our goal was definitely geared towards getting that 90's FW, quality progressive metal songwriting factor, out to the public. That, yes, there are still musicians that can write and produce that kind of music. With “Cynical Silence”, that factor is still very evident, but the songs were not "trapped" in that box. We wanted to prove that although we are heavily influenced by what resulted in “Ethical Dilemma”, that we are not one dimensional. We didn't want to produce “Ethical Dilemma” - part 2.Cynical Silence is an album with a much more in-depth, personal, haunting, dreary, sound.

(Bob) This time I can say I was more “free” to explore the thing I call “Grey Progressive” (!) you know, bands like Fates Warning, Pain Of Salvation, etc. So I think I moved towards a more “esoteric” approach, it’s a bit darker, I can say that it means more to me this way. And thankfully Billy felt exactly the same and that’s why he came up with such great melodies and lyrics. And of course, when it comes to the technical aspect… I went 100% prog this time, no holds barred!

Describe the recording sessions, the production process, the mixing and the mastering of the new album, please.

(Bob) I won’t say that this time it took me more than in the debut, once again, I wrote all the music in like 2 weeks’ time, I can’t help it, haha! You know when inspiration knocks on your door, you have to be there to answer this call otherwise is gone. But once again Billy was on the same page with me; every night that I sent him a new track, on the next morning in my email there was a demo of that tune with lyrics and vocals, ready to be recorded! Also this time we had the help of Ross Lagos, an ex-drummer of Bill’s previous band Terra Incognita who helped a lot with the drumming. And to get into more technical details (since you asked) I replaced his drums with the Krimh Drums by Bogren Digital, and my God, I love how they sound! The guitars are all recorded with my 6505 and then the mix was summed in analog mode in my studio. Then the mastering was taken care by my trusty mastering engineer Nasos Nomikos, how never ceases to surprise me! It’s so loud and crystal clear I couldn’t believe my ears!

How were the songs of “Cynical Silence” composed? How do you work, as far as the songwriting is concerned? When do you know, when a song of Vass/Katsionis is ready?

(Billy) Basically, Bob composes the music, sends it to me, I write lyrics and melodies, and the end result is a Vass/Katsionis song. Our atomic songwriting approach, syncs well when we collaborate. It's evident in both albums. I know that a song of ours is ready to be recorded when I hear the demo, and I smile. That's when it's complete for me.

Vass/Katsionis play in a progressive metal style. Which do you think are the music trademarks of Vass/Katsionis? Which bands have mostly influenced Vass/Katsionis?

(Billy) Trademarks would be, 90's style progressive metal in the realm of Fates Warning, Queensryche and Dream Theater. We have incorporated some "brush strokes" from bands like, Pain of Salvation, Conception, and Leprous.

 How do you see the worldwide progressive metal scene in the year 2023? Do you believe that the glory days are over? Is there a hope for the future of the progressive metal genre?

(Billy) Progressive metal wouldn't be exactly that, if it didn't evolve. Prog metal nowadays, is its own "thing" in my eyes. I believe that Tool first broke the standard mold that prog bands had to sound a certain way, to be considered progressive. As did bands of the 80's, when they didn't follow the exact "recipe" that the 70's prog-rock bands had layed down. So, yea, progressive metal must evolve, in order for it to be considered progressive. Vass/Katsionis fans have expressed to us that they truly appreciate our "pioneering" of the glory days in our albums. A shine of hope, if you will.

(Bob) I agree with Bill and I have to add that I’m happy that bands like Leprous, Pain Of Salvation, Taken, Voyager etc. are breaking the stereotypes of that “mould” Billy mentioned.

As far as the sound production is concerned, did you try to reproduce the sound of the 80s/90s or did you try to avoid that? Why?

(Bob) Well, I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to! I’m listening to a lot of new music and I like how the new albums sound nowadays. But at the same time, I think I’m developing my own sound when it comes to mixing, I have a more direct and punchy attitude, a bit like “in your face” approach. If I want to mimic a production, then it’s when I work on the Stray Gods albums, haha!

You manage to encapsulate your complex, technical music in songs, which aren’t overly long in duration. How do you manage to do that?

(Bob): I don’t think I’m good in writing long songs. I mean, it’s the easiest thing to but it’s not my cup of tea, except if we’re talking about masterpieces like “A Change Of Seasons” or “The Ivory Gates of Dreams” by Fates Warning. I think that you can say what you want to say in 4-5 minutes, and nowadays people have so little time to focus on your music, you have to be precise and meaningful.

One of my favorites of “Cynical Silence” is “A Day Without Loss”. I think that this one is more of a music theme than an ordinary song. Can you tell me the story behind it?   

(Billy) "A Day without Loss" is originally from Terra 1ncognita's 2nd album, "Fragments of a Ruined Mind". I was going through a very dark period in my life while I was composing lyrics for Cynical Silence. The exact expression for what I was feeling was not coming across, the way I wanted, in the lyrics I was writing. In a sudden moment, as I took a break from writing, A Day without Loss started playing in my head, nonstop, constantly. I took this as a sign, that what I was trying to create, I had already created, years ago. The song just fit perfectly with what I was trying to convey.

Where do the lyrics of Vass/Katsionis refer to? What does inspire you to write lyrics? Why did you name the album “Cynical Silence”? Your songs are very emotional, evocative and atmospheric. Which emotions of yours do you try to express through your songs? How would you describe the atmosphere of your songs?

(Billy) My lyrics are very spherical. They can be extremely personal, or very general in a sense. I gather motivation to write my lyrics from everything in everyday life and living. The world we live in, personal defeat, coming of age, silence, loss, angry thoughts, maturing, searching, seeking, etc, etc. These are only a few of my contents when I concentrate on creating a story or wanting to express something for the listener. Overall, my concepts for the lyrical part of a song can stem from the music, or I can ft my stories to specific musical patterns. The album title declares exactly what I believe. In our desperate and cruel days, I feel that all around us, there is a "numbness". Society is going through a "CYNICAL SILENCE ". It was chosen, for the album title because we liked the way it "sounded". I had written the lyrics, for the title track, and when Bob read it, he declared in a very confident voice: "That's it!!! That's the name of the album!!! It's fuckin awesome!!!" I couldn't argue with that!!! I actually had something very different for the album title, but Bob won that argument........... obviously.

I like the cover artwork of “Cynical Silence” very much. Can you give me all the details about it?

 (Billy) The album cover artwork was created by placing all the lyrics of the album, into OpenGPT and then using these prompts in Midjourney to make the cover art. The result is great looking, and does reflect the nature of the album, we believe. I was hesitant at first, to use AI, but I came around when I saw the end result.

(Bob) I’m glad you feel this way, and truth is that everybody liked it, even if it was done using this newly found and highly controversial AI “text-to-image” technique. To me is just a timestamp that this album was made in 2023 and a beautiful artwork to dress our music, without spending tons of money that we -unfortunately- do not have, haha!

Is there a possibility of a Vass/Katsionis live concert or is it a studio-only project, and why? Which are your future plans?

 (Billy) Vass/Katsionis is in fact, at this point, a project. With that said, we never say never. If we get the right kind of opportunity/agreement, for us to play our material, live, we will most definitely consider it.

Send a message to the fans!

(Billy) We personally thank each and every one of our fans, for supporting our efforts in keeping the 90's progressive metal sound, alive. In Prog we progress!!!!!

(Bob) Let’s help on keeping the Prog Metal, progressing!

Digging the grounds of modern heavy music, we found a newcomer band, which has many interesting things to say and offer. They come from Italy, they play in a melodic/progressive hard rock style and they are named The Sunrise. After listening to their nice latest album, “Rising In Loop”, Myth of Rock contacted Tommaso Elia (guitars, backing vocals), who gave his thoughtful, precise answers, on behalf of the band. Come on and let the sunshine in!

by Raquel Miranda

Introduce the band to the readers please.

The Sunrise is a hard rock/progressive band from Venice (Italy) formed in 2019 with the first intent to be a rock cover band; we discovered really soon that we were mentally and spiritually oriented on original music, we had not idea of the process or the way to do it, but we decided to do the jump. It wasn’t really easy at the beginning, and it still is really hard to process but it’s just “us” and we like it.

Why did you decide this name for the band?

The name “The Sunrise” basically comes from a really light brain storming; “how should we name a band and not be foregone? Which is the first thing that you think of when you process the concept of something new?”, so this name represents for our “something new”.

The Sunrise is a band that comes from Venice, Italy. How strong is the hard rock scene in your country nowadays?

Actually the hard rock scene is not so strong as it was some years ago. Now it’s the era of trap and drill music, Italy nowadays is really influenced from the English’s wave of drill music. The rock scene it’s a bit hidden inside clubs, concert halls and pubs but it’s not gone… We can praise some really strong and heavy bands like Lacuna Coil, Inverno, Rhapsody of Fire that are always on the run. Rock’s not dead, but at the moment we’re living some sort of “era change” and you know, the wheel turns.

After a first phase of experimentation and the publication of a self-produced EP, entitled "Rise" in 2019, which combined different genres, such as pop, progressive rock and metal, you signed with WormHoleDeath Records. How did they find you?

Well…It’s a really genuine old style story to tell; after that self-made EP we were not really happy about the result to be honest, so we decided to work more, to write  more and after one year, “Brand New Disorder” was born; that was the record that gave us the possibility to be labelled by WormHoleDeath, after we sent some e-mail requests they called us back to talk, because they liked it and basically that was the starting point.

What incredible visions did you have for this EP back then in 2019?

Wow… 2019… it feels like thousand years have passed from that EP; well as told before, we had a really strong attitude, we wanted to make our music, we wanted to be ourselves on stage and to create something that represented us, we had not the knowledge or the equipment to do it, but we made it anyways. It wasn’t perfect, probably it did not sound good enough…but it was ours and we were so proud of it.

"Brand New Disorder" saw the light of the day the next year. What music genres did you use for this album and what were the main lyric themes?

“Brand New Disorder” is like a melting pot of sound, ideas and effects that we decided to put together in that record; there’s not just one leading genre inside it, you can find some classic rock, some country lines, some sad ballad style section and some hard rock… well, the magazines and the radios were brutally in contrast with each other, someone loved that LP and someone had some very strong criticism about. The concept of the lyrics was the “fil rouge” that gave to that album his meaning; it talks about the social situation of 2020, the  political conflict and the will to    escape.

“Rising In Loop” was released on the 4th November 2022. It’s very different from the previous one, musically and lyrically. Can we say that with this one you found your true identity, your musical cosmos?

I really appreciate the citation to the album outro “Cosmos”, so this record is our new work-base, on which we finally found the style, the sonority and the typology of arrangements we meant to produce. Yes, we can say that we have found our “musical cosmos”… don’t know precisely which musical genre it is, but that’s ok, we’ll find out.

Describe the recordings of “Rising In Loop” and the whole production process. Who did the mixing and the mastering?

Oh man, it was really long, it took about one year, because we were in the middle of the lockdown, so the first part of the writing process was done in social distancing… next we had the demos ready and we started to write down every single arrangement, there’s a lot of sound and layers inside, especially for voices it was really hard, but we figured it out at the end. The mixing and mastering process was done by our colleague Marco Chiereghin a.k.a. Ripples, that made his magic.

Who is the main composer and lyricist in The Sunrise? How is a typical The Sunrise song composed?

The main writer of the band is Giorgia Chiereghin, the lead singer, she does a great job everytime! The composing is usually made by me, the guitarist and producer then gives the lines to the band and next we all work together for the final result.

How do you make decisions in the band?

We have not a defined way to make decisions, we usually have a briefing together to manage things and we come out with a democratic decision at the end.

What is your dream music collaboration?

We really would like to work/share the stage or open for Lacuna Coil; they are our landmark for the Italian metal scene.

If your music was a color, which color would it be?

Definitely PURPLE!

How would you describe the feeling/the atmosphere of your music?

Just two words: nostalgic and pragmatic.

How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect you?

Unfortunately, we had not the possibility to play, to move or to make music in the way we like; it was very difficult. 

Which are your plans for the future? A tour maybe?

 Actually we are practicing a lot to propose a really good show with dress changes, light and projections, we would like to bring “Rising In Loop” on stage entirely like a movie experience.

Could you leave your message to the readers, please?

Quoting the outro “Cosmos” we would like to say “We are all just passengers who walk on a thing that we call home, that’s not home, this is where we pass our days before the tiny shine light will burn”… Have fune guys, treat each other right and be yourself, our time is now.

Temtris is a female fronted metal band, however, they differ from the other bands of the genre due to the voice and personality of their frontwoman, Genevieve Rodda. Hailing from Australia and playing in a massive heavy/power metal style, Temtris look like they are about to conquer the metal world under the command of Genevieve Rodda. “Khaos Divine” is the band’s latest official opus, a concept album of crushing heavy/power metal, and Myth of Rock, after listening to its songs, communicated with Genevieve and had a very interesting, nice talk!

by Dimitris Zacharopoulos

About a couple months ago, Temtris released their new album, “Khaos Divine”. Which are your feelings about it? Are you satisfied with the response of the media and the fans?

The response has been amazing from fans and the media. We have received such great reviews. It's always stressful releasing new albums and worrying if the fans will like the direction we have taken. But this album has definitely won our fans over.

Where and when was the new album recorded? Who was the producer? Who did the mixing and the mastering? Please describe the recording process and the whole production of “Khaos Divine”.

The album was recorded in a few different places. The guitars and bass are recorded in our studio. We recorded vocals and drums at Main Street Studio’s

in Wollongong over three days. Anthony Fox, our guitarist, did the producing of the album and a basic mix before it was sent off to Lord Tim for mastering. We wanted a clear, fresh and modern mix for this album and I think we have achieved this.

What about the lyrics of the new album’s songs? Is “Khaos Divine” a concept album? Who wrote them and where do these lyrics refer to?

Khaos Divine is a modern concept album and the songs were written by all the band members. The lyrics describe the world in which the story is set in. A world with 3 tiers and a life that is almost eternal. But eternal life comes at a price and Khaos (The God) controls you . Is it really living if you know what you are doing everyday over and over again. The main character Ember is telling the story through the songs.

Can you give us all the necessary info about the cover artwork of “Khaos Divine”?

The artwork has a girl on the front cover called Ember. She is the main character of the story and we, Temtris, have always had females on the front cover of our albums.  The band had a basic idea of what we wanted the front cover to look like. Ember is standing over the city and in her hand she holds the head of her enemy which she takes revenge on.  We had an artist put together the album concept and then we built the cover art from there.

What inspires you to write music and lyrics? What music are you listening to nowadays?

The inspiration for “Khaos Divine” came from listening to “Somewhere In Time” by Iron Maiden. I listen to everything from rock music, like The Cult to heavier bands such as Death and Carcass. I usually get ideas from life experiences but this latest album was all fantasy driven.

How would you define the music style of Temtris? Which are the music trademarks of Temtris, in your opinion?

We are a band that likes to not restrict our song writing to a particular metal genre, if a song needs a certain music piece in it to convey the story we will use it.

Temtris does have a trademark twin guitar attack, power vocals and big choruses you can sing along to. That is something you will hear in all our albums.

You have a story of over 20 years as a band. What do you remember most from the early days of the band? How were things for heavy metal in Australia back then?

It was hard work to get to where we are now, we have pushed through member changes, venue closures, covid and our own personal challenges to keep going when things get tough. The scene has changed a little, life is expensive and people find it hard to afford to make shows like they use too. The hardcore metal fans are always there but it amazes me how many metalheads you see at big concerts and i wonder why they do not get to the smaller shows anymore.

Which was the best moment and which was the worst moment in your career until now?

Our best moment would be opening for our first major band Accept in 2014 to a sold out show. Sitting and chatting with them afterwards was a moment i'll never forget. The worst would be when our drummer was refused flights to our New Zealand tour at the airport and we had to cancel our tour then and there. That was a tough phone call to make to the promoter.

After so many years, which are your ambitions for Temtris?

Probably to be able to do this more as a fulltime job and jump onto the festival circuit. In September we are doing our first UK and European tour. We are very excited about this.

What does keep you active and productive as a band?

We enjoy the creation of music and pushing ourselves to new levels. After each album I often say I am not sure we can keep stepping up and releasing more music, but we always do. We enjoy performing live and there is nothing better than writing a new album and hearing the final product.

How much different is Temtris now, compared to the band’s beginning? How much have you progressed?

Our song writing has grown as has our own abilities, we are better at what we do now and the technology to record at home makes things easier. We have a fantastic team of musicians that all have the same goals. The latest album came together quite fast and I think that shows how much better we have gotten at our craft.

Why did you name the band “Temtris”? Which is the story behind the name?

We wanted to represent a feminine version of the devil. The queen of temptation who lures humanity into darkness. We decided on ‘Temtris’, in a similar way to the decision to use Khaos rather than ‘chaos’ for the latest album. It’s a title, a name that is symbolic of the idea, rather than an adjective.

You have played numerous live shows in your career until now. How do Temtris sound live? How significant are concerts for Temtris?

We are all live on stage, we do not use backing tracks except for our intro piece. We are energetic and want to sound as close to our album sounds on cd as we do live. Playing in small venues is fun and gets you up close with the audience but we also enjoy the freedom a big stage gives you to put on a show.

How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect you?

It was tough, we had our “Ritual Warfare” album released through the Covid pandemic. We were not sure if we should book a tour or not. But we did and played shows to punters that had to sit down. It was not easy, venues had restrictions on how many could attend. People were apprehensive about buying tickets in case they got sick or shows were cancelled.  I and Anthony Fox played a few livestreams for fans during lockdown. People still tell me this kept them sane.

Which are your future plans?

At the moment we are focused on our tour of Australia which we are halfway through. Then we head to the UK and Europe in September. We have started talking about what direction we would like to take the next album but have made no plans yet.

Send your message to the fans! 

Temtris crew sends its thanks for everyone’s support. We hope to see you at a show.

Horns up to you all \m/  

Everybody knows the Monsters and their catchy, melodic hard rock music! We are talking about Lordi, who got famous as Eurovision winners and continue to this day, releasing fine albums. Myth of Rock, always digging horror cinema, literature and music, came in contact with Lordi and Hella (keyboards) and Mana (drums) gave answers to our questions. What are the Monsters doing right now? What about their new album, “Screem Writers Guild”? Continue reading, please, because the Monsters came back!

by Dimitris Zacharopoulos

Lordi are releasing their new album  ”Screem Writers Guild” in a few days. Which are your feelings and thoughts now that your new album is coming out?

Hella: Only positive! It’s a great album!

Mana: Every day is a joyous jubilee.

Before “Screem Writers Guild” you had released a box set with seven new albums, “Lordiversity”. Why did you decide to release such a box set back then? Are you satisfied with the response of the critics and the fans?

Hella: Covid-19 cut off our European tour back then, so Mr. Lordi just had too much time!

Mana: It all comes down to “Killection” - album which was released before that. If we had a compilation album from a fictional timeline starting from the 70s then of course we would have to have the whole back catalogue of the albums where that compilation is compiled from. The original plan was to make ten albums, but the record label let us do “only” 7. And yes, the Covid-19 mayhem cleared the calendar and paved the way pretty nicely for all that.

Where would you trace the differences between the new songs and the songs of “Lordiversity”?

Hella: I think the new album is more like old school Lordi, with some touches of the new genres discovered on "Lordiversity". 

Mana: We were pretty thrilled about how the “Humanimals” album turned out on “Lordiversity” and kinda got stuck to that sound. Production wise, this new one is very similar to that.

When and where was the new album recorded? Did you have fun recording this new album?

Mana: I did the drum recordings by myself at my rehearsal space, most of the guitar and bass track recordings were done by Mr. Lordi at his house in Rovaniemi and vocals were recorded at Here Studios in Helsinki by Toivo Hellberg and Mr. Lordi's long time collaborator & vocal coach Tracy Lipp.

Recording process is always like a rollercoaster ride. One day you feel great and one day you want to burn the drums. That doesn't change no matter how many albums you make.

Describe the whole production process of the new album. Which were your priorities during the production? Who did the mixing and the mastering?

Mana: The priority is always to make the most out of each song and that the album works as a whole. I think we formed a good production trio with Mr. Lordi and our A&R Janne Halmkrona. Mixing was done by the same dude who did the Humanimals album: Ilu Herkman and Pauli Saastamoinen was in charge of the mastering.

Did Mr. Lordi compose all the new songs and write all the lyrics? Which was the contribution of the other members?

Hella: Most of them yes, but also other members are always welcome to give our ideas and riffs on the table.

Mana: Exactly. Rest of us throws riffs and ideas at him. Some of them sticks and some don't.

The new songs are a tribute to horror cinema, as far as the lyrics are concerned. Name your five favourite horror movies of all time!

Hella: “The Exorcist”

Mana: “The Exorcist”, “Alien”, “The Omen”, “Pet Sematary”, “Psycho”.

Do you also like reading horror books? If yes, name some of your favorite horror books.

Hella: Horror doesn’t really work for me in a book form..

Mana: I got a bunch of Stephen King books in my shelf. “IT”, “Misery” and “Pet Sematary” are the most bone chilling.

Lordi has always played in a melodic hard rock style. Which are your music influences? What music do you listen to nowadays? What new have Lordi to offer to the hard rock genre in the year 2023?

Mana: Let's just start with the fact that KISS is the best band in the world and that is the most influential band for me and this band as well. Lately I've listened a lot of 80's prog AOR rock: Rush, Genesis, Yes etc.

We have a new guitar player Kone who has brought a new sound in this band. Definitely worth checking out!

Hella: I listen mostly melodic or progressive metal music, I believe that doesn’t really have much influence on Lordi music, :D .

In your opinion, which are the highlights, the best songs of the new album? And why?

Hella: My favourites are “Dead Again Jayne” and “End Credits”. But not easy to choose.

Mana: Same here. Album needs an ass kicking opening track and a good closure. Those songs are spot on.

If you were offered to compose the soundtrack of a horror movie, would you say yes? Why?

Hella: I am sure Mr. Lordi would take that offer!

Amen is not a member of the band anymore. Why did he leave the band?

Mana: It's a loooooong story and it's explained in Mr. Lordi's book “Lordiary”.I hope that the it gets translated to English soon.

Hella: His interest to put all the needed effort to the band was gone. He had been the member since the beginning, I think it was his time to let it go.

Lordi have experienced many line-up changes until now. Do these line-up changes have an impact on the band’s sound? Would you say that the current line-up is one of the strongest you have ever had?

Hella: Of course it has an impact, to the sound, look and to the whole dynamic of the band.

Mana: This line-up is most definitely the strongest sounding so far. Kone brings a lot of new energy and more technical style of playing to the band.

As everybody knows, Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece, in 2006. How much important was this for the band and its career? How much different are Lordi compared to your sound in 2006? How much have you progressed as a musical act?

Hella: Eurovision Song Contest made the band more known all over the world, but I think the true fans have been found from different routes.

Mana: Hella and I were not in the band back then, but I believe this is current band is totally different than what it was back then. I think we can't deny the effect of winning ESC. The band gained a lot of new audience. Some of them saw the band for the first time and has sticked with us to this day.

Could you ever imagine Lordi without the “monster” looks? Would you be the same band, without the masks and the “monster” outfit? Why?

Hella: Lordi is a monster band, there is no Lordi without it.

How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect you as a band?

Hella: The same us other bands, we had to cut off touring, but for example we had a streamed special show and Mr. Lordi had time to write seven new albums so… not so bad?

Which are your plans for a tour?

Mana: We're hitting the road on 14^th of April as a support act for Sabaton and were doing 25 shows all across Europe.

Send your message to the fans! 

Hella: See you soon on the road!

Mana: Stay cool, be nice, drink water, sleep enough, exercise, don't do drugs, smile, enjoy life, don't abuse animals, vote, tune your guitar before playing, don't scream at your tour manager, don't drink and drive, sell your car and get a bicycle, don't invade a sovereign country... Let's start with those!