For number 4 on my list last year, I made an annual trip to Finland like I typically do for some of my lists. That land of beauty & nature has always been a reliable producer of some of the finest metal bands, whether they be old-school or the new guard. Today’s review is from the fun horror titans Lordi, who are no strangers to the Heavy Metal Otaku blog. For a little over 2 decades, these Finnish fiends have been crawling all over the world, spreading their love of spooks & music. They’ve already made a killing so far this decade, with the fictional compilation album Killection back in 2020, and the mega compilation Lordiversity in 2021. 2023 is no exception, and they crafted quite the release for that year. So, let’s get into our finest suit or dress, head over to the nearby film academy, and enjoy 2023's Screem Writers Guild awards. Let’s begin!
Background
The early years of this decade have become highly recorded, not to mention being highly plague ridden. COVID affected everybody, and Lordi were no exception. Though they had released Killection at the beginning of 2020, they didn’t really have the time to go on tour to promote it for rather obvious reasons. Yet, even in a time of great disease, the monsters from Finland didn’t rest in their lairs, as over the course of 2020 they managed to record seven albums, and would release them all together in one package in 2021 as the monstrous Lordiversity (Which I’m surprised I didn’t cover then or up until now). By the time 2023 came about, the fears of the years before didn’t quite seem so insurmountable, and the world was more open than it had been for some time.
Lordi had already been revving up to go back on tour a little bit beforehand, but not without one bump in the road. On the 5th of May in 2022, longtime guitarist Amen had left the band, and a day later Mr. Lordi would put out a statement about the situation. In it, he said that he had asked Amen to leave at the end of February 2022 due to growing tensions, and at one point it was really personal. Luckily, Lordi managed to find a new guitarist on the 30th of May in the form of Kone, and from there things were all set. The monsters of the band then crept into the studio to begin work on their next release towards the end of 2022, and once it reached the 31st of March in 2023, Screem Writers Guild was released. An ode to the classic monsters of cinema (Universal specifically), it was a breath of fresh air to take in after what the start of this decade was.
Basic Description
Hokey Horror Fun.
Lordi have always been a band that knew how to have fun, but also how to send a few chills up or down your spine. Outside of one or two exceptions that do get a little real-world, Mr. Lordi & the rest of the monsters of the band always manage to bring a smile to their fan’s face, and Screem Writers Guild is perhaps their most upbeat release so far this decade. Like I said above, the inspiration for the music on this record was that of the old Universal movie monsters, and those were always fun to watch. It’s not just the music that carries this inspiration, but the costumes as well: from the Creature From The Black Lagoon, to Dracula, and to Frankenstein, the band wear the inspiration on their sleeve, & they aren’t ashamed of it in the least!
Best Track
Dead Again Jayne was a damn good third single for this record! A speedy song with plenty of creep factor that never goes away, it tells the tale of a dead movie starlet (Inspired somewhat by Jane Mansfield) being brought back to life by a weirdo, all in an effort to try & see if said starlet would be his girlfriend. The instrumentation is fun, but it doesn’t forget to be a conveyor for some scares, and Mr. Lordi knows how to be BOTH when he’s singing!
Dead Again Jayne
Another good track that shows off the quality of Screem Writers Guild would be the ode to creepy circus freaks with Thing In The Cage. A slower-paced tune in comparison to the one above, but makes up for that by being a bit more sinister. The instrumentation just creeps & crawls all over, and Mr. Lordi’s vocals just slither around you until it worms it’s way into your head, where it won’t leave until it wants to. Like anything in the freakshow, Thing In The Cage is creepy and gross, but entertaining at the same time!
Thing In The Cage
Worst Track
Screem Writers Guild is almost a perfect Lordi album. Much like Killection & Lordiversity, the band have make some fun and freaky with this release, but I say it’s almost perfect because of some minor tracklisting. Simply put: the 2nd track should have been the first in order to keep the story flowing just right. On top of that. Both Dead Again Jayne & Thing In The Cage have odd 1-something minute intros, and then the songs plays. The tracks themselves are great, but those introductions feel like timewasters to me!
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, click on the link below:
Screem Writers Guild
Overall Impression & Rating
Screem Writers Guild is just a lot of fun. It is a little jumbled right at the beginning, but otherwise the music on here is great! Lordi know when to be scary, but they also know when to have a great time, and that’s what this album excels at! If you’re looking for some scares that don’t deal with the real world & isn’t soul-crushing, this release is what you’re looking for!
Screem Writers Guild gets a 9 out of 10.
At that was my look at Screem Writers Guild. A small hiccup at the beginning, and there’s a tiny bit of time wasted, but the overall experience just brings a smile to my face. In a world where it’s horrors are too frequent nowadays, it’s nice to know that there are monsters that like to have fun on stage. So, see you all next week, when we’ll stay in Finland to look at a band that’s all too familiar on this blog. See you soon! ***
***
This was written before Akira Toryama’s death, so expect to see something about that before the next review.
No comments:
Post a Comment